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'} Mr. E— A N S B E R * /•."•W^i^v^ HIS O ?_,t«fc*^-. ^ V SPEECH, t OF the nth of Fubri^aAtA^?^* "^•m 3 r5^-» i^tU; ? W I T H^ • H ..^-•.1*fc.rlr-:i4jf• A N i M A D V E R S I O N S ?'*';*;',-"; J '■*''T|5s ♦'*• ' T HERE O N. Taken in Short-hand, at the C« ^ ^ ■ \^^_ in the Strand. February 2d. ■•^;?>^ And now firft Publiihe^ " ■hii .^Vx'^Oj By LOVEL TOMLINSON, L O N D O N f Printed for B. White, in Fleet- S treet ; ani R. Faulder, in New Bond-Street* ^ i ' . M.DCC.LXXX. ' V I Price One ShiUing.] '-t- ■i^':- ■■■■ V. ri '» ^. .,, c »- . , ., hi' I !si: "' lli.'i-,"'' m \Li N. B. Quarter-fefTions, affizes, Weftminfter forums, &c. &c. attended, and trials and fpeeches corrcdtly taken down ; like wife ftiort-hand taught on a new and approved plan, and on the moft reafonable terms. —Enquire for Mr. Lovel Tomlinson, at No. 233, Long-lane, Wcft-Smithfield. . His Brachygraphia eruditOy'^hy which arguments are exprefied with as few and fimple marks, as arc words by the other mafters of abbreviation, in 4to. price los. 6d. in boards, may be had by applying as above, and no where elfe in London. 1 '. , ' '. I I'S. w TO THE READER. T^Attgued with working at Wejlminfler^ hall, where I had been taking down the Jpeech of an eminent counfel in Jhort-hand, I was confoling myfelfwith a pipe andjixpenny- worth of punch in afmall room in a tavern in the Strand, when, by the perfeii manner in which I diftinguijhed the voices and con-- verfation, I found that only a thin wainfcot partition feparated me from two of the great eft orators and patriots of this nation 5— my pipe being out, and as I always takefor^ tune as well as time by the forelock, — this converfation may pay for my punch, quoth I; and immediately I called for fome paper, and fet to work injhort'hand. A 2 Mr, >v|l"ip", ' "Tf^VT-y" ^■. "ff ■•^•^,W"rT' lit} ill"' If ' H : 111 l>' > Vftl fK-i i!!'''"'j It- :•■.,: It 5.V ,V m It''' >'' l'»' , H' ii'. Mr.-E B — 's Answer, c. Mr. B. INDEED, Charles, our Beconsfield ex- curfion was of ufe ; we had the lei- fure fo to mature and digcft the plan, that I have no doubt but the delivery will come eafy to me — Verhaque provifam rem non invita fequantur : 3ut, Sir, lord N — will oppofe it, — op- pofe it. Sir, part by part. Mr. F — . It matters not if he does ; we, on our fide, have confidered every part pro and con ; — I fear not the being able to fupport every propofition. Mr. J5 . True, Charles ; but have you adverted to a general attack on the purport of the — Mr. F— . Why who the devil would ever controvert the principle of the bill ? 3 Mr. I" « V i n ■ * I [ 6 ] Mr. J5— . It may be done— and when prepared, with vyour readinefs of concep- tion, and force of language, you will be furely able to fupport ; but as it is you that I rely on for fupport, I think, Charles, you fhould be prepared — to our old ftile of exercife — I oppofe my own ipeech— -you will anfwer. Mr. F — . Addrefs that old chair — Aay ; I'll fet him in the middle of the room. — Egad ! it's heavy, and heart of oak ; 'twill do for old Norton admirably — there, get on the treafury fide — and now begin. Mr. J5— . You mufl not interrupt me, as in fome fimple point of argumen- tative difcuflion ; you muft indulge me to the very peroratio, if only for pradlice-fake. Mr. F — . Do not fear me- — proceed. I! »'. .. 't ■t If :.!; Mr. Burke then fpoke as follows : Mr. Speaker, — the honourable gentle- man who has fo ably arranged, and fo eloquently delivered his very complicated plan for the reform of the ftate, not unne- ceflarily i [ 7 ] ccffirily in the opening of his fpccch, dis- played a deep fenfe of the invidious fitua-^ tion his public fp^«-it fubjefted him to, not without propriety deprecated that breath of obloquy and refentment, which, from thofc of needy or ambitious expedtancy, might blow full upon him, give his enter- prife the taint of malignity, and fully the fplendor of his bold and honed: under- taking ; his undertaking to free the fpirit of our old £ngli{h conftitution from the unwieldy lumber of antiquated cufloms and modern abufes, which opprefs and retrain the vigour of its law, freedom and ceconomy. If in thje times he deemed it meet to apologife iovfuch a plan, and to excufe himfelf to the interefted and powerful for encroaching on fuch exorbi- tancy of their profits and authority, as, nor the refources of the ftate, nor prin- ciples of our government can duly allow ; if, under fuch circumflances, the necef- fity of a conciliatory exordium was any ways evident, furely under the predica- ment of oppoiing fo fpecious, though, I truft, impolitic a fcheme^ much fhould be K . urged Pi (. h. [83 titgcdm the £:)lici•— Is it in<« vidious ^ I ami not lefs Q:i<. To fpeak ho«* nefUy and ufefuHy on this folemn. occafion is my fble wiihy and I hazard ill-will from my country, feeely as I woiild brave perils for her ;— I jfelf- devote my charao* ter, as being to her fervice! under tbe weight of general, difpleafure. It is that heart ^felt fentiment which* is the reward pf thofe who adt for her honour and inte- reft that is to repay me for the lofs of public eftimation :— Is the lofs of life- a facrifice? Ihdeed, Sir, T feel the temper of the houfe — 1 perceive its repugnancy- to the admiffion of fuch reafoning as may militate againft the fpecious, and^(I dare allow) Koneftly conceived reform, which too m I I 9 ] too haftily It may call the Fanacea of all thofe evils which afflidl this country. Let me be indulged with a candid hearing, and it fhaJl jfhortly appeai .at I am not wont to glofs over evils or abufes of any kind i and I trufl: that the tenor of my pad conver- fationsand avowed principles will ftamp mc a warm friend to the general liberties of mankind, and to my particular rights as an Englifliman -, with refped to future condudl-— unhappily, the hour of proof may be at no great diftance ! the honour- able gentleman has repeatedly called th? attention of the houfe to the principle of his \y}\\i—tbc rcjlridlon of that undue in- Jiuence ivhich raifcs the crown Jo high on the Jelf-debajhncnt of parliament . — It is to the principle of his bills that I fliall argue : his means are moft ably conceived, and perhaps adequate to the end propofed j— it is to the end that I will argue : will it not entail the word confequences ? This apparent arrangement of order and har- mony* will it not be fubverfive of that very freedom, of that very oeconomy it is meant to fupport or introduce ? Sir, I may - * B appear T ii pi, % Hi I I ;•(!• [ 10 ] appear paradoxical, but thefe queftlons will bear debate 5 and ere I fet down, I will evince that diredtly and fuddenly to tear away this tree of poifons that has fprouted from the cranies of our ftate- building will endanger it to its very foun- dation. The honourable gentleman has fomewherc, early in his fpeech, faid, that his fentiments met thofe of the county petitioners : — I will work at the rude work, ere I touch on the ornamental finifliing; a word to this fubjed: : — I well know, Mr. Speaker, that county meet- ings have been nearly general j few pro- vinces have withftood the call of pa- triotifm 5 whether its evil fpirit fafcinates, or true genius engages, I leave to the wordy war of the partizans of either fide : I profefs to be none. Can thefe meetings be of falutary tendency, confidered in a view relative to the manners of the' age, and particular circumftances of this coun- try ? Sir, it is a queftion of moment to me, — to every Englifliman. Let not pre- judice or paflion drive us to a hafty deci- fion, — let us canvafs it with good temper, fair I: 'It ^'} h [ II ] fair freedom, and well-weighed thought. Are thefe meetings or aflbciatlons to con- fine themfelves to the petitioning parlia- ment ? Sir, I appeal to the noble lord in the blue ribbon, whether the fate of fuch fupplications or remonftrances may not be readily anticipated ? They will be, or over-ruled, or configned to forgetfulnefs or inadvertency on your table, and the effort being confidered as the faint and laft refource of the friends to the renova- tion or amendment of the Britifh confti- tution, the party will refpire its laft breath into — the bladder which is to buoy him up on his fea of glory. The noble lord nods affent — " Vultu quo coelum, tempeftatefque ferenat " Annuit." 'Tis ratified, as had Jove nodded in his Synod ! But thefe aflbciations perhaps have a further view of coercion or force, (hould entreaty or admonition not avail ! — That this nation has progreffively attained the heights of refinement in knowledge, and jn arts, in fpeculative fciences, and in B 2 luxu- I I I! ] It^' ;'■. I I,-.. ill PI |i J' ' ^,1 [ 12 ] luxurious enjoyments, will readily be ac« quiefced in ; — that a diverlity of fyftema-r tic opinions are the confequence of the one, and a diflenfion of intereiled pallions the efFedlof the other, will be as readily al- lowed : What then can be the refult of violent meafures at this period but raging difcord, and all the horrors of a civil war, without the profpedl of our miferies being repaid by ought of falutary or good pro- ceeding therefrom ? In an enlightened and vicious age, (and an enlightened is but too generally a vicious one) every hiflory loudly tells us that we are to ex- pe(5l nought from public commotion, but the growth of defpotic power, or birth of arillocratic tyranny. Only on great pub- lic principles very generally diifeminated through the mafs of the people, are we to build our hopes of a free ftate j and the exiftence of thofe genuine principles is in- compatible with ought of that fubfer- viency to felf, which, from the higheft to the lowefl, has its mark on the fpend- thrift, the gamefler, the avaricious, the profligate, the ambitious, the envious, and < [ 13 ] and various other denominations of cha- radler, under which, a doubtlefs majo- rity of our countrymen may at this mo- ment rank. Lord BoUngbroke, Sir, taxed Sir Robert Walpole with having ruined the morals of the people, whilft merely he had in view to feduce the inte- grity of their reprefentatives : the allega- tion was politically juft 3 for venality foon found its courfe from fo high a fount, and covered as a flood the face of the country ; —the conftituents then crouded to the example, as chufing rather to fell them- felves than to be trafficked for by others ; and corruption had its market in the re- tail and in the grofs : then fled true li- berty from this ifle ! — It is to the voice of virtue only that fhe will liften ! you call her back in vain, unlefs with celeftial har- mony ! — Let us begin, by rectifying our morals, by enlarging our minds 3 let us be wife, let us be virtuous, and we muft be free. Are we never then to expect the reformation of government in its ceconomy and influences ? Are we never to enjoy the fpirit as well as form of our conftitution ? —I ' <•' \ 'A > ' |ii II', i' M \l WrA It.) \\ .-'■ f i6 ] not fuppofe that it is to his plan of reform that I can be affiftant. If I miftake not his plan, it is forthwith, and at one blow to deftroy that influence of the crown which commands a majority of votes of either houfe of parliament, to abett the views and fyftem of its adminiftration^ The various efficient parts of his plan work well to his grand objedl, his princi- ple; but, Sir, I deem it not neceflary to fpeak to the efficient parts of his plan, as I rife to oppofe its very principle : — I would not have the influence of the crown fo fuddenly done away, — hafliily to deflroy what has been fo gradually acquired, were to hazard the diflTolution of thofe bands which hold together the king and the peo* pie. — I feel how ungracious to the public ear is fuch an aflieveration -, but I tread on too fure a ground to be apprehenfive of confequences, and have too honeil a pur- pofe to have any dread of mere opinion— " Juilum et tenacem propofiti virum " Nee popularis aura — (( -mente quatit folida. a Let me fuppofe the honourable gentle- man's W man's plan eftablifhed in the fulleft lati* tude, his mofl fanguine and beft hopes ac^ complifhed, and the independency on the crown of every member of this houfe afcertained beyond the doubt of the moft fadtious : — this Medean boiling is more likely to diflblve than to renovate the con- flitution ; — the temper of the times will not bear this violence on the public man- ners and habits ; — Sir, this Platonis Uo^iifeix in face Romuli, will not, cannot be borne with;— Sir, it is an experiment wild and vifionary as that of the hermetic fage, who would effed the tranfmutation of his mafs of lead, by a fingle drop of the vitrified diamond.-*-Let me call your at^ tention to a confideration of the fubjedt in this point of view. From that emi- nence, Sir, of domeftic purity and public virtue— {( cc — Defpicere unde queas alios, paffimq; videre Errare,— atque viampalantes quaerere vitae i" From that arduous height to which la- borious knowledge and perfevering inte- grity have been your guides, — look down ■ C on 1 'i ' > k! If; ' . 'I ■ ■ >i Ir kJ ^i' ' i I- ■i. I If, ''','r [ i8 1 on the face of this ifland, — you will be- hold the arts of luxury pufhed to the verge of refinement, and an attachment to them pervading every denomination of men, whole means may be adequate to their attainment; attention to acquain- tance, to friends, to family, to country, is no longer focial, growing from felf-love ; but pure attention to Self in the making each connedion fubfervient to fome view of pleafure or enjoynient to the individual : ferious things, holy things, are turned to the fame account as the frivolous and fan- ciful, — the gaming-houfe, and the fenate, the table of feftivity, and the facred one of the church, arc all blended lightly to- gether in thought, deed, and difcourfe: Sir, that honourable gentleman drinks his two bottles, and is a wonderful debater';— that honourable gentleman loves his girl— and his country j that honourable gen- tleman is extravagantly profligate, and plunged in debt, but has fine talents for finance, and is of un(haken integrity :— • Sir, that dodlor in the fnug wig is one of the joUieft fellows 1 ever met with, and 5 Sir, t' f'i [ 19 J Sir, I aflure you, could you but hear him officiate at the communion, you would be charmed i — 'tis a (hame he is not a bifhop : is this pidure beyond the colour- ing of the times ? Even the fofter ami- able virtues, which are the peculiar cha- raderiftic of an age well enlightened, but yet not wholly corrupt, are fcarccly to be found amongft us ; the pure intercourfe of familiarity unbiafled by worldly mo- tives, is hardly to be found 5 fociety has not any good band of union, — we at beft are connedled but by chaplets and gar- lands,— a flowry chain, broken and en- twined at pleafure. Doubtlefs, there are exceptions to my defcription, but the generality of our nobility and gentry are diflin ft, * y »,! ii- If; i I**-' fe^ [ 20 ] fewer in proportion within thefc walls : I fay fewer, Sir ;— the fmall number of men who are of fleady and uniform attach- ment to the old-fafhioned virtues, have rarely an inclination to quit their whole- fome retreat for the peftilential air of the political circle. — They fear the infe(5tion of thofe vices and habits which taint the circulation in great cities, and among the higher ranks of men. I have adverted to the motley fcene without doors ; within, as much of private vice and profligacy j in a word, as much of felf is introduced, with a whole ftock of parliamentary vices crouding too for admittance : there is avidity, there is necefTity, there is vanity, and there is ambition ; but, will fay the honourable gentleman, I cut off, and root out all thefe paflions by ftriking at their objedl : I anfwer, that an objedt will ftill be found whilfl fuch paflions are in full force. Our reformer regins at the wrong end, — but of this in its place -, under thefe reftridtions, members of parliament will only drive to their goal with greater art or boldnefs, by undermining the liberties of [ 21 ] of the people, or by f^idious contention with the fovereign : — the one will become a treachery even more welcome than at this day, and the other will yet have fufficient to difpute for, though not enough to fatisfy. -^Sir, whilfl: the prefent fyftem of man- ners prevails, there is no fear that to retain or to be bought, will lapfe into difufage. But the honourable gentleman's plan being afTented to, and adopted, let the political eye anticipate the colour of parliamentary proceedings in the more public point of view. Our fituation. Sir, as a nation, is in fo complicate a ilate of diftrefs, fo many burthenfome circumftances to bear up againft, fo many exigences to provide for, fo many refources to be fearched out, that not to form fome fair good fyflematic plan of condudt at home and abroad; or when formed, not to adhere to it, were equal and certain ruin. — But who is to form this plan ? Who have we of fuch approved weight and authority, as to induce us to confer this weighty truft on him ? — - I (hall be told that many are to be found, ^^The honourable gentleman himfelf, will perhaps 4 . 1' , 1 ' II- - ,1 , ■ r It .*. i"' h I'' !:?! t' '% [ 22 ] perhaps name the very man :— I would afk him a queflion equally important, but more difficult to obviate : — how will he cnfurc, that this heaven-born genius (hall have the weight duly to direft the then heterogeneous and uncemented mafs of parliament ? — How will he enfure us from a fucceflion of unconne^ed fchemes, and vifionary fyftems, from which nought but fliame abroad and confufion at home can be expected ? — The honourable gentleman couM anfwer this, but he wi// not; I am too well acquainted with his powers of mind, not to fuppofe that he anticipates what I am going to fay : — Sir, I will anf- wer, that probably we may be freed from this evil, by (if poflible) a greater : on the adoption of the honourable gentle- man's plan, fome nobleman or commoner of great rank and eftimation, may be found to take the lead in public affairs; and I am not ignorant enough to be perfuaded that a crowd of what is called his party will not follow him into office; a fhort time will fuffice for that great man, and that party to monopolize the (mall ■ ' ■. |-' *, ' J * m r . ' fVil M lis.. r ^4 I a prorpe(fl which now op'^ns to my view— • " as blooming Eden fair, as heaven fub- lime !" — wherein I defcry the majeftic genius of our ifle cloathed in the unfully*d garb of purity, fupported by wifdom and virtue, and introduced by peace to the fane o^ liberty ! — Sir, I fear I have wearied the patience of the houfe, whilfl I have laboured to reprobate the meafures pro- pofed by the honourable gentleman ; but it is due to him, it is due to this houfe ; it is juftice to myfelf that I fay fomething further, — and in fome degree do away the odium of this oppofition to fo popular a meafure, by giving riiy own thoughts of the evils of the times, and the proper mode of found and adequate reform : In- deed, I acknowledge the one, I feel the neceffity of the other : I agree in the whole detail of grievance, but I dif- fer as to the mode of redrefs. That we are at variance with the better part of our empire -, that apparently bare of alliance we have powerful compadls and alliances to cope with, that our debt is moft heavy and increaling, that our pe- cuniary Vt m ■ [ ^5 1 cuniary refources are on the decline, and the demands for them every hour more prelfing, the noble lord, and others on the fame fide of the houfe cannot but allow ;— they do allow, and they cannot be fo blind as not to perceive that ceconomy, that par- cimony is neceflary — as well to their mi- niflerial authority, as to the national wel- fare ', — an exhaufted treafury, Sir, can be no pleafing fight to a firfl: lord of the trea- fury.— -It cannot but be equally evident, that many parts of the old eftabliOiment are grown rotten and ruinous, that many offices are but finecures, and many pen- fions ill-beftowed ; and it is obvious en- ough, that fuch are proper objeds of re- form ; but I would not flrike at fo much of them at ofice as fhould diredly tear up root and branch that undue influence of the crown fo much complained of; in this the plan before the houfe does too much; — in another and mod effential point, too little, or rather nothing. The honourable gentleman has with fo much ability and fo thorough a knowledge D of ! • ■ lie i?^' r " BS [ 26 ] of his fubjed gone through the detail of fuch excrefcencies as might well be lopt - from the trunk, as exhaufting the fap which (hould tend to its nutriment and frudlification, that I have in that line but the fimple choice of what I would begin with, and in what manner I would chufe to proceed. — The firft objedt of curtail, where fo much is to be done away, does not at firfl: fight occur to me, — it matters not, — all that I would at prefent fay, is, that I (hould go tenderly to work 3 — pro- greiTively proportioning my attempts in this way of reform to the fuccefs that fhall attend our endeavours in the other line of reform, — a reform of the morals of the people, — of the nation : — making the two keepjufl: and equal pace together, fo that by the time the lafl flroke fliall be given to (i- necures, to penfions, to all that upholds the undue influence of the crown -, the upper houfe, this houfe, the people at large fhall be fitted to aflume and fuflain the refpec- tive fhare of genuine influence, that the fpirit of our EngliOi conflitution portions out ■ '^i I ' t 27 ] out and entrufts to each. — Let not this be confidered as matter of idle and Utopian fpeculation j — I am confident of fuccefs if the fcheme is purfued with temper and unvaried attention: to digeft and carry into execution fo complicated and progreflive a fyftem of reform, is not the work of one man, — no, not though he be the wifefl and beft: of men. — Many muft lend their abilities — and examples too ; — example ihall afford a better and more powerful document, than can be enforced by the mod falutary regulation : — my unwearied and gratuitous afliftance, my weak, but honeft labours, are ever ready to anfwer the call of virtue, of freedom, of my country. Sir, I would not at this late hour too deeply inveftigate this fubjedt on many accounts — I would not, from a fentiment of how much is due to the abilities and to the induftry of the very able mover of the plan now before the houfe. It were not fair, it were not par- liamentary to joftle his racer in the fladia, —it were mean artifice to divide the notice D 2 and \\<'- ^: p h (I * m M f, m :!i I [ 28 ] and blunt the recollecftion of the audience, by fubflituting an after-piece to his fub- lime drama. Let him be fuppofed to have anticipated all that can be urged in that line of reform ; — let me be fup- pofed to glean from his Hock, — to make up my fheaf ear by ear, — to tread o'er his field ftep by flep, not haftily nor over officioufly : each flalk I gather with my right hand, I ftrengthen by placing with it another of another quality, which I have ready in my left : — Sir, I advert to a reform of the mariners of the people, a reform I mean, fhould go hand in hand with, and accompany that propofed by the honourable gentleman, in the pre- fumption that his plan is not to be taken in the grofs, but in the detail. — With re- gard to the branch that I would graft on his mod fruitful ftock, I fliall not for the prefent fay more than is neceflary to give the houfe a jufl idea of the feafibility of what I propofe. — Juftice to myfelf demands that I (hould fay fomething — refpedl to him that I difcourfe not much. The [ 29 1 The nice gradations by which men glide from a ftate of ignorance and rude fimpli- city to a ftate of general knowledge and polifhed diflipation is an objedt of curious fpeculation ', but the inveftigation is by no means a neceflary preliminary to fuch procedure as would bring ba^k a fociety from a refined intercourfe with the vices to the more homely acquaintance with the virtues, — however far it had left them be- hind in its hafty career. In moft dif- orders of the political body, it is wife to recur to the origin of the malady, and tracing it from its birth to purlue it to the crifis which is the fubjecft of the confulta- tion ; — but the corruption of manners is a general gout throughout the political frame which baffles all fyflematic reafoning and applications : to leave the trite metaphor of the human body, often applied, and rarely applicable to the political, — I fhall plainly deliver my reafons, wherefore the retro- fped to the progrefs of fociety is an unpro- fitable and embarrafling fludy to thofc en- gaged in its reform -, — and this I enter on the '- Li: I'' ^ .'■I m 'V V'- <■ !'■■ ■'' ' n X. [ 30 ] the more willingly, as it will be the favin? of much trouble both to myfelf and to others. A nation becomes vicious and en- lightened with fuch equal pace, that it is difficult to diftinguifh whether the arts have derived their force from the ap- petites, or the pafTions and appetites ra- ther gained ground from the fubminiftra- tion of the arts -, — but this we are fure of, that our age is moft knowing as well as moft diffipated, and that knowledge and diffipation having been reared up together, it were endlefs and abfurd to attempt to re- trace the connexion between them, fo as to point out the evils that accrued from each circumftance of the blended growth, with intent to apply the cauftic on one fixed and regulated plan of medicament : — the attempt were an abfurdity of the greateft magnitude, — for ye cannot make men lefs knowing or ingenious ; — or, if ye could, ye would not ; and yet the pro- per clue will carry ye back to many evils which had their firfl birth in thofe cham- bers of the labyrinth which belong to ^ know- '%|v i{ [ 31 ] knowledge and to art. I think, Sir, with- out involving ourfelves in abftrad: theories and diftant refearches, we mufl be content to take the furvey of mankind as they are, and fludy to meliorate their temper and habits by fuch alteratives as we are war- ranted in the ufe of by good fenfe and an- cient pradice. — I would begin with the lower clafles — with that mafs of the people which as being lefs impregnate with ajuft fenfe of, and feeling for their fituation, renders the interpolition of their governors the more neceffary ; — the traders and thofe in a middling rank in life I would next take in hand ; — to the depravity of the higher clafles I would next and laft turn my attention — for I am to hope, enlight- ened as they are, they fliall need little au- thoritative regulations i — I am to hope that they will give way to that train of reafon- ing which the leflxDU of impending necef- fity fliall inculcate ; and render reflirictive and fumptuary laws unneceflTary, as per- haps at this crifls they may be inexpedient. Sir, I fliall drop a few hints relative to the reform *ii f / / f'l,'. •hi m ' ' "f r. m "■■m w '^t • . .! , ■■■'■' r [ 32 1 reform of the lower clafTes; gentlemen of greater parliamentary experience will turn them to account ; I claim the affiftance of the houfe, of no one more than the ho- nourable gentleman,— it would be my glory to be his undcr-labourer in the vine- yard — I am no veteran in politics,^ — I look for a Theban father in the facred band. The regulation of poor-houfes. Sir, fliould be a primary objedl, — induftry is the pa- rent of virtue : a reflridion to the native parifli under certain limitations and pro- vilions is well worth confideration, as likewife new parochial laws concerning the time and circumilances that fhould conftitute a fettlement. — No marriage lliOuld be folemnized but in the parifli church of one of the parties, extra-licences being rated at too high a price for the commonalty ; to balance this in favour of population, fomething like the jus triiim llbcrorum might be allowed, and emolu- ments to induftrious families might arife from the favings made in the poor's rates, or from other funds 3 religion, negleded religion r 33 1 religion under political patronage might effedl much ; — to fhut up the receptacles of mean debauchery — et facras refer are domosy were a labour by no means unwor- thy of us : — The militia, formed wholly of this rank of people, is a great fource of their corruption, which I would purify and amend j — the life of a foldier. Sir, is but too prone to idlenefs and vice, and thofe who have too long habituated them- felves to it, return to their pariflies but to corrupt them, or more generally run wild abroad, foregoe their trades and occupa- tions, and from having been the defen- ders, become the peft of the kingdom : Sir, I would new-model the militia; — the time of fervice (hould be limited to two years, and no man fhould be permitted to re-enter till after a two years interval from fervice : the whole body of militia colo- nels will reprobate, or deride this innova- tion ; a commanding officer is proud of his parade, and any fcheme which might feem to have a tendency to the ruaking it lefs exad: and adroit will be fcouted by thefe mi- E litary ¥ ttr': 01 I )1 {]'' 41' ^4 ':-1 f ii^ •H' ir •• } Mm I!' ' i: I- 'ii' ll 1 'U [ 34 ] litary fplrits : fix weeks or two months is the common time that the militia regiments al- lot to their drill, and for the ufeful parts even a (liorter time would fufHce ; thefe objec- tions then are removed, and particularly fo if the ballot for militia men was, through- out England and Wales, returned and filled up in the month of December; half of each regiment might be difcharged at the clofe of the fummer's campaign, and as foon as the vacancies were filled up, the other half fliould have three months fur- lough, not as mere matter of indulgence, but to prevent their lofing fight of their cottage life, of their families, of a perma- nent feat of their affedions and induflry : advantages, Sir, would thence accrue to the country not only in the line of agricul- ture, trade, population, and (what is of more confequence than all) in the reform of manners, but even in that of military defence ; for not only a draft of thirty thoufand men, but the whole body of Bri- tifli youth would be difciplincd and ready to anfwer to the call of their country.— c Furthei: [ 2S ] Further confequences lurk behind— I will not rend the veil. — I pretended not alone to be able to cleanfe the Augean ftable, others will purfue thefe crude hints, and ilriice out other modes of regulation which may tend to the increafe, chaftity of mo- rals, and fimple piety of our peafantry. ncn fhall thefe wide forefts, thefe deferted trads which were the juft appanage of an- cient royalty, at an aera when the chace was deemed an education for chivalry and warfare, — then fliall thefe waftes be wifely and juftly demanded from the crown, to employ the overflowings of the crouded and induftrious villages : Now, the furren- der of fuch lands to the community, in its dearth of inhabitants and frugal induftry, would be merely to whet the appetite of fome farming projedor, from whofe ruin they would date a fcattercd and ever-lin- gering cultivation : 'Then would a nume- rous and working people convert the drearv heath to the garden of hufbandry, and Old England glory in its acccffion of wealth and of people. — Thc?i fliall the ho- E 2 nourable 1 \ ^P: M i.\ t ■ I y I h,i' ] i »••- 1 h " H ■ (■ '1 [ 36 ] nourablc gentleman have due Credit for his abilities difplayed this day. — ^en (hall he reap his full reward, — when at a future, and diftant period, the houfe fhall revert to their parliamentary record, which fliall dignify the patriotic memory of the father, whilfl his only and promifing fon (hall with hereditary eloquence move — .that fo much land be portioned to fo many hundred fa- milies, — that fuch encouragement be given, — that fuch immunities be allowed. Sir, I will not at this time any longer tref- pafs on the patience of the houfe. I iliould have much to fay to the middling clafTes ; much to the higher ranks of men ; but already I have faid enough to give feme infight into the plan which my mind fuggefis not only as feafable, but as of moil promiiing afpedl : — Enough too I have laid to Hiovv wherefore I didipprove the plan now laid before you by the honour- . able gentleman ; — to ihow in what I think it too violent and active, and in what defi- cient. Sir, I (liall refervc any further ex- planation to a future day, when I hope for the 1% [ 37 ] the indulgence and afliftancc of this houfe; of no one, more than of the honourable gentleman ; I revere his abilities, I honour his integrity, I am charmed with his elo- quence, — but I afTuredly (hall give a nega- tive to the avowed principle of his plan,— a negative therefore to the bringing in of his bills. Ere I fet down, let me exhort the houfc to refledl on what line of demeanour is mofl conducive to its dignity and importance at this momentous period, — what duties it owes to the commonweal, — what is the true meafure of honourable and juft policy which the interefts of our country require of us at this awful crifis : full fure. Sir, I am, that it is not to open our ears to the feducftive voice of popularity, — full fure I am, that it is not to give way to menaces, or to be biaflcd in our deliberative capa- city by the complaints of the ignorant, or difcontents of the factious. The ftorm is raging, and the affrighted owner bids the pilot make to the land, — fhall he obey, and yield i : m It', k 'm I- ! ■•'.J [il m «-• [ 38 ] yield his bark to the fhoals and to the furge ? — No, Sir, he turns the prow to the open feas, and when the hurricane is weathered, he (hall have the thanks of his mafters 5 — nor (hall confcience fail to re- quite him. We undoubtedly do belong to the people, we arc their heads to think, we are their voices to utter, — and to the hour of our political difTolution, they have no other organs of pu6Iic deliberation and vote : — what they have given up, they have no right to refume, and therefore it is, that parliament is not perennial ; — by implication, that facred, that holy de- pofit which law and the conftitution fur- render back to the people at a flated period, cannot at any other period be demanded by them with right -, nor can it be yielded up by us without fliame to ourfelves, without wrong to them, without wrong to the triple legillature of the ftate. They have indeed cntrufled us with a weighty truft; — we betray that truft, we betray them, if we liften or yield to ought but what our folemn and fairly debated 1/ r* V [ 39 "^ debated counfels eflablifli by weight of law and reafon 5 and warrant, and call upon us to do. Thefe humble petitions we are bound to hear, but not implicitly to adopt the prayer : for my own part, I thank my conftituents for their confidence in me, but (hould think I little deferved it, had I not that honcft regard and manly friendihip for them, which, as it would cherifh their rightful pretenfions, would as freely rejed their wayward humours, and felf-injurious requifitions. — Well, Charles, what fay you ? Mr. F — . Ha, ha, ha, — Say ! why that in your heat you twenty times forgot on which fide of the houfe you was fpeaking, ; — ^you veered round every point of the compafs, — hugg'd the treafury, embraced oppofition, and kick'd both ; — then giving way to the fertility of genius, whilft you oppofed one thing, you muft propofe a- nother.-^ Mr. i . 'y, ■ I .H r. m ti li.i > ' ' ''. ' ' « ,1 I «-■■-' I It " "1 ft) ii< 40 ] Mr. B . But yet I was not fo deful- tory, but that you might obferve fome good arguments againft the principle of the bill ; it is to that I would have you fpeak. Mr. F — . My head achs fo confound- edly with fetting up lafl night, that I am in no humour to play the orator ; — but my opinion in mere converfation you are welcome to : in the firft place, I do, and ever did think, that the miniftry would not let the principle of the bill pafs un- heeded, — but they will not attack it in the mode you fuppofe, or indeed in any other mode ; but more probably vyiH point- blank have the impudence to aflert, that there is no undue influence at all. — Should any one artfully, or from a fpeculative turn ufe the mode of reafoning you held forth, — it will afford us a large field for irony, inventive, and argument ; — the ri- dicule paffed on Brown's eftimation of the times is not out of date, — or perhaps I would feize our antagonifl's arms, and beat .1^ [ 41 ] Beat him with his own weapons, by talk- ing more loudly for a reform of morals^ as a natural confequence of fubverting the means of corruption in the crown; — by evincing that fuch reform muft of ne- neceffity begin with parliament— (as in found reafoning and fenfe indeed it (hould) that otherwife the abfurdity muft follow, which your paradoxical ingenuity has led you into, of making thofe allowedly the worft, the reformers of thofe allowedly the better. — The reformers (liould firft be reformed. — I will turn all you have faid to-day to good account on a future occa- fion, — when I am to urge the vices and ge- neral depravity which have follovired the corruption of the legillature, and fhow the neceffity of reform there^you have fuggefted to me new grounds for fupport- ingjour bill, and beating down the argu- ments for influence. Mr. B . You are right indeed, I am fatisfied that there is no danger of your wanting argument or words: — butfor your F head- 11 ttv^: 1^1 > It' \ .Ml If. [ 42 ] head-ach, Sir, it is nervous,— there is intimate connedlion between thofe quick and delicate fibres which embrace the coats of the flomach, and their nicer in- volutions which form the glandular fub- ftance of the brain — I would recommend fomething to eat. Mr. F — . Ring the bell, we will have a broiled fowl and a bottle of claret. Mr. B' Port, Sir, is a better digef- tive, and a greater bracer.- The converfation now became 'defultory and common-place : Mr. F — praifed Be- consfield mutton; — Mr. B talked of a brood mare given him by Mr. C y, and defcribed all her points with an accu- racy of terms which would have done credit to a horfe-dealer ^ — Mr. F — gave a detail of lofs and winnings at the club ; — and Mr. B faid, he had flopt at an alehoufe in his way to tov/n, to make water,— and, ** Sir, I learnt fomething at 5 t^e t 43 ] the ftable door;-r-I vow to God, I did not know that agoat chewed the cud before.*' — Expeaing now to hear nothing further of confequence, and as my private marks in brachygraphy fometimes - puzzle me, if I do not foon commit them to plain writing, I rang the bell, paid for my punch, and went immediately home to copy fairly out the above fpeech and converfation ; and I do now put the identity and authenticity of the fame out of all doubt, by figning my name— — LOVEL To ML IN SON.