SELECT BRITISH ELOQUENCE: EMBRACING THE BEST SPEECHES ENTIRE, OF THE HOST EMINENT ORATORS OF GREAT BRITAIN fn ite Inst ten UTrntnrrra : WITH SKETCHES OF THEIR LIVES, AN ESTIMATE OF THEIR GENIUS. AND NOTES. CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY. BY CHAUXCEY A. GOODRICH, D.D., PROFESSOR IN YALE COLLI: IS NEW YORK: HARPER fe BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 3 09 k 33 1 PEARL STREET. FRANKLIN SQUARE. MDCCCLII. ? ^ & & Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, by Chauncey A. Goodrich, in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the District of Connecticut PREFACE. Mr. Hume has somewhere remarked, that " he who would teach eloquence must do it chiefly by examples" The author of this volume was forcibly struck with this remark in early life ; and in entering on the office of Pro- fessor of Rhetoric in Yale College, more than thirty years ago, besides the ordinary instructions in that department, he took Demosthenes' Oration for the Crown as a text-book in the Senior Class, making it the basis of a course of informal lectures on the principles of oratory. Modern eloquence came next, and he endeavored, in a distinct course, to show the leading character- istics of the great orators of our own language, and the best mode of study- ing them to advantage. His object in both courses was, not only to awaken in the minds of the class that love of genuine eloquence which is the surest pledge of success, but to aid them in catching the spirit of the authors read, and, by analyzing passages selected for the purpose, to initiate the pupil in those higher principles which (whether they were conscious of it or not) have always guided the great masters of the art, till he should learn the un- written rules of oratory, which operate by a kind of instinct upon the mind, and are far more important than any that are found in the books. Such is the origin of this volume, which contains the matter of the second course of lectures mentioned above, cast into another form, in connection with the speeches of the great British orators of the first and second class. A distinct volume would be necessary for American eloquence, if the lectures on that subject should ever be published. The speeches selected are those which, by the general suffrage of the En- glish public, are regarded as the master-pieces of their respective authors. They are in almost every instance given entire, because the object is to have each of them studied as a complete system of thought. Detached passages of extraordinary force and beauty may be useful as exercises in elocution ; but, if dwelt upon exclusively as models of style, they are sure to vitiate the taste. It is like taking all one's nutriment from highly-seasoned food and stimulating drinks. As to the orators chosen, Chatham, Burke, Fox, and Pitt stand, by uni- versal consent, at the head of our eloquence, and to these Erskine may be added as the greatest of our forensic orators. Every thing, however imper- fect, from a man like Chatham is of interest to the student in oratory, and therefore all his speeches are here inserted, including eight never before pub- lished in this country. All of Burke's speeches which he prepared for the press have also found a place, except that on Economical Reform, which, relating to mere matters of English finance, has less interest for an American. In room of this, the reader will find the most striking passages in his works on the French Revolution, so that this volume contains nearly every thing which most persons can have any desire to study in the pages of Mr. Burke. Six of Fox's great speeches are next given, and three of Pitt's, with copious extracts from the early efforts of the latter ; together with nine of Erskinb's ablest arguments, being those on which his reputation mainly rests. Among the orators of the second class, the reader will find in this volume four speeches of Lord Mansfield ; two of Mr. Grattan's, with his invectives against Flood and Corry ; Mr. Sheridan's celebrated speech against Hast- iv PREFACE. ings ; three of Mr. Curran's ; Sir James Mackintosh s famous speech for Peltier ; four of Mr. Canning's ; and five of Lord Brougham's, including his instructive discourse on the study of eloquence in the Greek orators. Some of the most finished letters of Junius are given in their proper place, with re- marks on his style as an admirable model of condensation, elegance, and force. In the first fifty pages will he found nearly all the celehrated speeches hefore the days of Lord Chatham, from Sir Robert "Walpole, Lord Chester- field, Mr. Pulteney, Lord Belhaven, Sir John Digby, the Earl of Straf- ford, and Sir John Eliot. The selections in this volume extend through a period of two hundred years, and embrace a very large proportion of the most powerful eloquence of Great Britain. The following are the aids afforded for the study of these speeches : (1.) A memoir of each orator, designed to show his early training in elo- quence, the leading events of his public life, the peculiar cast of his genius, and the distinctive characteristics of his oratory. It ought to be said, in justice to the author, that these sketches were completed in every essential particular, long before the publication of Lord Brougham's work upon Brit- ish Statesmen. (2.) A historical introduction to each of the speeches, explaining minutely the circumstances of the case, the state of parties, and the exact point at issue, being intended to place the reader in the midst of the scene as an actual spec- tator of the contest. These introductions, with the memoirs just mentioned, form a slight but continuous thread of political history, embracing the most important topics discussed in the British Parliament for more than a century. (3.) An analysis of the longer speeches in side-notes, giving the divisions and subdivisions of thought, and thus enabling the reader to perceive at once the connection and bearing of the several parts. (4.) A large body of explanatory notes, bringing out minuter facts or re- lations of the parties, without a knowledge of which many passages lose all their force and application. (5.) Critical notes, as specimens of the kind of analysis which the author has been accustomed to apply to the several parts of an oration, and which every student in oratory should be continually making out for himself. (6.) Translations of the passages quoted from the ancient and foreign lan- guages, with the poetry rendered into English verse. The passages are usu- ally traced to their sources, and the train of thought given as it appears in the original, without a knowledge of which most quotations have but little force or beauty. For the same reason, the classical and other allusions are traced out and explained. (7.) A concluding statement of the way in which the question was de- cided, with occasional remarks upon its merits, or the results produced by the decision. Great compression has been used in preparing this volume, that all who are interested in the study of eloquence may be able to possess it. Each page contains the matter of three ordinary octavo pages in Pica type ; and the whole work has in it one sixth more than Chapman's Select Speeches, or Willison's American Eloquence, in five octavo volumes each. In conclusion, the author may be permitted to say, that while he has aimed to produce a volume worthy of lying at all times on the table of ev- ery one engaged in speaking or writing for the public, he has hoped it might prove peculiarly useful to men of his own profession ; since nothing is more desirable, at the present day, than a larger infusion into our sacred eloquence of the freedom, boldness, and strength which distinguish our secular oratory. Sept. 1st, 1852. CONTENTS. SIR JOHN ELIOT Page 1 Hi9 early life, 1 ; elected to the House at the opening of the contest with Charles I., ib.; imprisoned by the King, ib. ; again elected while in jail, ib. ; Petition of Right, 2 ; Charles trie3 to evade it, ib- ; Eliot's speech, ib. ; characteristics of his eloquence, ib. ; imprisoned, dies the first martyr to liberty, 6. Speech on the Petition of Right 3 EARL OF STRAFFORD 7 His birth and education, 7 ; early traits, ib. ; ill-treated by Buckingham, ib. ; assumes the character of a patriot, ib. ; defends the Petition of Right, 8 ; bought off by the court, ib. ; becomes favorite of Charles L, ib. ; his ex- actions and cruelties, ib. ; impeached by the Commons, 9 ; description of the trial, ib. Speech when Impeached of High Treason 11 LORD DIGBY 15 His early life, 15 ; enters the House as an opponent of the government, ib. ; employed against Buckingham, ib. ; appointed one of the managers for the impeachment of Strafford, ib. ; changes sides and comes out against the bill of attainder, ib. ; his eloquence characterized, ib. Speech against the Attainder of Strafford 16 LORD BELHAVEN 19 His extraction and character, 19 ; evil3 resulting from a union of the crowns of Scotland and England, and their separation in all other respects, ib. ; jealousy of the En- glish as to the trade of Scotland, ib. ; retaliatory meas- ures of the Scotch, ib. ; plan of a Legislative Union, 20 ; violent hostility against it in Scotland, ib. ; circumstan- ces of Lord Belhaven's speech against it, ib. Speech against the Legislative Union of England and Scotland 21 SIR ROBERT WALPOLE 27 His birth and early education, 27 ; enters Parliament as a Whig, ib. ; early traits of character, ib. ; made Prime Minister, ib. ; his extreme jealousy of all who might be- come his competitors, 28 ; character of the Opposition and of Bolingbroke as its leader, ib. ; Walpole's system of corruption, ib. ; falsely accused as to most of his leading measures, ib. ; errors of his ministry, 29 ; char- acter of his eloquence and that of his contemporaries, 29, 30. Speech on the Septennial Act 31 Speech on Addressing the King for his Removal 35 MR. PULTENEY 43 His early life and study of oratory, 43 ; gradual develop- ment of his powers, ib. ; becomes one of the ablest of English debaters, ib. ; breaks down the power of Wal- pole, ib. ; fails to succeed him, ib. ; created Earl of Bath, ib. ; his general unpopularity, ib. ; his death, ib. Speech on Reducing the Army 43 LORD CHESTERFIELD 45 His birth, 45 ; early love of polite literature, ib. ; elegance of his manners, ib. ; his acuteness and wit as a public speaker, ib. ; his various public employments, ib. ; re- tires from office and devotes himself to literature, ib. ; his unhappines3 in old age, ib. ; his death, ib. Speech against Licensing Gin-Shops 46 LORD CHATHAM 52 His birth and early sufferings from the gout, 52; his ed- ucation at Eaton, ib. ; his conversational powers, ib. ; removes to Oxford, ib. ,- his studies in rhetoric, ib. ; goes twice through the English dictionary to gain a command of language, ib. ; obtains a commission In the army, 53 ; joins the Opposition, ib. ; enters Parliament, ib. ; his maiden speech, 54 ; its effect on the King and Walpole, ib. ; deprived of hi3 commission, ib. ; becomes leader of the Opposition, 54-5 ; comparison between him and Lord Mansfield, 55 ; gains a complete ascend- ancy in the House, 56 ; unites with Mr. Pelham, and is made Paymaster of the Forces, ib. ; exhibition of dis- interestedness, 56-7 ; on the death of Pelham comes out against Newcastle, his successor, 58 ; attack on Mans- field, " Felix trembles," ib. ; attack on Fox, " conflux of the Rhone and Soane," 59 ; drives Mansfield out of the House, ib. ; is made Prime Minister on Newcastle's res- ignation, 60 ; dismissed soon after, and all England in commotion, ib. ; restored, his influence over all con- nected with him in government, ib. ; power of his elo- quence, " Is there an Austrian among you ?" " Ut videre virum," 61; Opposition extinguished, 62; triumphs of his policy and arms in all quarters of the globe, ib. ; France sues for peace, 63 ; Spain joins her, ib. ; he pro- poses war against her, but overruled by Lord Bute, ib. ; resigns, ib. ; makes his " Sitting Speech" against Lord Bute's peace, 64 ; attack on Mr. Grenville, " Gentle Shep- herd," 65 ; opposes the King respecting John Wilkes and American taxation, ib. ; contemptuous retort on Justice Moreton, 66 ; withholds his support from the Rocking- ham administration, ib. ; forms his third ministry, and is raised into the House of Lords, 67 ; his loss of health and inability to administer the government, 68 ; resigns and retires, ib. ,- comes out at the end of three years against the Grafton ministry, 69 ; it falls before him, ib. ; support of America, 70; declines in health, ib. ; his death, 71 ; characteristics of his eloquence, 71-5. Speech on a Motion for an Address on the Marriage of the Prince of Wales Page 76 Speech on the Spanish Convention 77 Speech on the Impressment of Seamen 80 Speech in reply to Horatio Walpole 81 Speech in favor of Inquiring into the conduct of Sir Robert Walpole 82 Second Speech in favor of Inquiring into the conduet of Sir Robert Walpole 89 Speech on taking the Hanoverian Troops into the pay of Great Britain 93 Speech on a Motion for an Address of Thanks after the Battle of Dettingen 95 Speech on the Right of Taxing America 103 Speech in Reply to Lord Mansfield in Relation to the Case of John Wilkes 10S Speech on a Motion to Inquire into the State of the Na- tion 114 Speech in Relation to the Seizure of the Falkland Islands by Spain 118 Speech against the Quartering of British Soldiers on the Inhabitants of Boston 126 Speech in favor of an immediate Removal of the British Troops from Boston 128 Speech on a Motion for an Address to put a stop to Hos- tilities in America 132 Speech on a Motion for an Address to the Throne at the Opening of Parliament, November 18th, 1777 134 Speech against a Motion for adjourning Parliament, De- cember 11th, 1777 139 Last Speech upon America, with the circumstances of his Death 141 LORD MANSFIELD 143 His birth, 143 ; descended from the Stormont family, which adhered to the Stuarts, ib. ; sent early to the Westmin- ster school, ib. ; his great proficiency, ib. ; removed to Oxford, ib. ; his studies in rhetoric, ib. ; commences the study of the law, ib. ; laborious training in extempora- neous speaking, ib. ; historical studies, 144 ; practice in elocution, ib. ; a favorite of Pope, Ut. : extent of his business as a lawyer, ib. ; made Solicitor General, ib. ; comparison between him and the elder Pitt, ib. ; made Attorney General, 145: appointed Chief Justice with title of Lord Mansfield, ib. ; speech at taking leave of his associates at Lincoln's Inn, 145-6; his qualifications as Chief Justice, 146; testimony of Justice ^tory, ib. ; his political course in the House of Lords, 147 ; resigns CONTENTS. as Chief Justice at the age of eighty-three, ib. ; his death, ib. ; personal appearance and characteristics of his elo- quence, ib. Speech on the right of Taxing America Page 148 Remarks on the foregoing speech with the American ar- gument (by the editor) 152 Speech when surrounded by a Mob in the Court of King's Bench 154 Speech in the case of Allan Evans, Esq 155 Speech on a Bill depriving Peers of certain Privi- leges 160 JUNIUS 163 His Letters have taken a permanent place in our elo- quence, 163 ; the rhetorical skill which they manifest, ib. ; the result of severe and protracted effort, ib. ; labor bestowed on the selection and arrangement of his ideas, ib. ; logical cast of his mind, 163-4 ; peculiar benefits to the young orator from the study of his style, 164 ; his extraordinary powers of condensation, ib. ; of insinu- ating ideas without expressing them in form, 164-5 ; reasons why indirect attack by insinuation is so pecul- iarly painful to cultivated minds, 165 ; Junius' means of secret information, ib. ; characteristics of his style, 166- 7 ; the perfection of his imagery, 167 ; who was Juni- us ? 168-9 ; his political relations, 170 ; had previously written under other signatures, ib. ; reasons for his now coming out with increased strength and boldness, ib. ; impression made by his first letter, 171 ; attacked by Sir William Draper, and thus made an object of pub- lic attention, ib. ; his triumph over Sir William, 171-2; the power he gained as a writer, ib. ; his efforts second- ed by Lord Chatham, ib. ; the King predicts that Junius will cease writing, ib. ; he discontinues his Letters at he end of three years, and Sir Philip Francis is sent to India, ib. Letter to the Printer of the Public Advertiser 173 Letter to Sir William Draper 178 Letter to Sir William Draper 180 Letter to the Duke of Grafton 181 Letter to the Duke of Grafton 185 Letter to the Duke of Bedford 188 Remarks on the Character of the Duke of Bedford (by the Editor) 192 Letter to the King 193 Letter to the Duke of Grafton 200 Remarks on the character of the Duke of Grafton (by the Editor) 204 Estimate of Junius by Mr. Burke and Dr. Johnson. 204 EDMUND BURKE 206 His birth and delicate constitution, 206 ; educated at a Quaker school in Ballitore, ib. ; early training, ib. ; re- moved to Trinity College, Dublin, ib. ; account of his studies, 207 ; early philosophical spirit, ib. ; leaves col- lege and studies law in London, ib. ; his severe mental labor, 208 ; applies unsuccessfully for a professorship in Glasgow, ib. ; publishes his Vindication of Natural So- ciety, ib. ; publishes his Essay on the Sublime and Beau- tiful, 209 ; his society courted, by the most distinguished literary men, ib. ; his conversational powers, 210 ; com- mences the Annual Registei - , ib. ; goes to Ireland as sec- retary to Single Speech Hamilton.^ll ; comes into Par- liament as a supporter of Lord Rockingham, 212 ; his maiden speech, highly praised by Lord Chatham, ib. ; goes out with Lord Rockingham, and becomes leader of the Whigs in the House, 213 ; Speech on American Taxation, its powerful impression, 214 ; elected mem- ber for Bristol, 215 ; circumstances leading to his speech on conciliation with America, ib.; comparison between this and his speech on American Taxation, 215-16 ; speech on Economical Reform, " King's turnspit a member of Parliament," 216; speech at Bristol previ- ous to the election, 216-17 ; declines the polls, and re- turned for Malton, 217 ; speech against the continuance of the American war, " shearing the wolf," 217-218 ; after the fall of Lord North, comes in with Lord Rock- ingham as Paymaster of the Forces, 218 ; carries his measures for economical reform, 219 ; originates the East India Bill of Mr. Fox, ib. ; his intimate acquaint- ance with India and its concerns, 220 ; his speech on Fox's East India Bill, 221 ; speech on the Nabob of Ar- cot's debts, ib. ; procures the impeachment of Warren Hastings, 221-22 ; draws up the articles of impeach- ment, 223 j delivers the opening speech against Hast- ings, ib. ; delivers his closing speech at the end of nearly seven years, 224 ; reasons for the acquittal of Hastings, 225 ; King becomes deranged, 226 ; his ground respect- ing a Regency, ib. ; his unpopularity and abusive treat- ment in the house, ib. ; his early jealousy of the French Revolution, 227 ; reasons, 227-28 ; his first collision with Mr. Fox on the subject, 229 ; his breach with Mr. Sheridan, 230 ; writes his Reflections on the Revolu- tion in France, 231 ; characteristics of the work, ib. ; its errors, ib. ; its excellences, 231-32 ; his separation from Mr. Fox, 232-33 ; loss of his son, 234-35 ; pension granted him, 235 ; his Letter to a Noble Lord on the subject of his pension, ib. ; his Letters on a Regicide Peace, ib. ; errors of Mr. Burke respecting the war with France, 235-36 ; decline of his health, 237 ; his death, ib. ; characteristics of his genius and eloquence, 237-40 Speech on American Taxation Page 241 Speech on Conciliation with America 265 Speech previous to the Bristol Election 292 Speech on declining the Election at Bristol 310 Speech on the East India Bill of Mr. Fox 311 Speech on the Nabob of Arcot's Debts 329 Peroration of Speech against Warren Hastings . . . 362 Extracts from works on the French Revolution... 363 Miscellaneous 376 Mr. Burke on the Death of his son 378 Character of Sir Joshua Reynolds 378 Detached Sentiments and Maxims 379 HENRY GRATTAN 382 His birth and education in Dublin, 382 ; study of the law in London, ib. ; study of Lord Chatham as an orator, ib. ; settlement in Dublin as an advocate, ib. ; election to the Irish Parliament, ib. ; moves a Declaration of Irish right, 383 ; unsuccessful, ib. ; moves it again at the end of two years, 384 ; prevails, ib. ; opposed by Mr. Flood, ib. ; invective against him, ib. ; opposed to the Union, ib. ; chosen to the Imperial Parliament, ib. ; de- voted to the cause of Emancipation, ib. ; his death, ib. ; personal qualities and character as an orator, 385. Speech on moving a Declaration of Irish Right 386 Speech on making a second motion for a Declaration of Irish Right 391 Invective against Mr. Flood 394 Invective against Mr. Corry 396 Character of Lord Chatham 398 RICHARD BRIN3LE Y SHERIDAN 399 His parentage and connection with the stage, 399 ; early dramatic productions, ib. ; purchase of Drury Lane Theater, ib. ; election to Parliament, ib. ; made Under Secretary of State, 400 ; keen retort on Pitt, ib. ; speech against Hastings in the House, ib. ; speech before the House of Lords under the impeachment, 401 ; Lord Byron's lines thereon, ib. ; indolence and effrontery as a speaker, 402 ; his wit and humor, ib. ; habits of intem- perance, 403 ; unhappy death, ib. ; personal appearance and character as an orator, ib. Speech against Warren Hastings when impeached be- fore the House of Lords 405 CHARLES JAMES FOX 437 His birth and early genius, 437 ; indulgence of his father, ib. ; produces habits of dissipation, 438 ; eminence in classical literature, ib. ; distinction at Eaton and Oxford, ib. ; early extravagance, 439 ; enters Parliament, ib. ; first a Tory and in office under Lord North, 440 ; turn- ed out abruptly, ib. ; joins the Whigs as a pupil of Burke, 441 ; his labors to form himself as a debater, 443 ; becomes head of the Whig party, ib. ; is made Sec- retary of State under Lord Rockingham, 444 ; disap- pointed in not becoming Prime Minister on the death of Rockingham, ib. ; forms his Coalition with Lord North, 445 ; drives out the ministry and becomes Sec- retary of State, ib. ; his East India Bill, 446 ; speech in support of it, 447 ; carried in the House, ib. ; defeated in the Lords, ib. ; his speech against secret influence, 448 ; displaced and Mr. Pitt made Prime Minister, ib. ; unsuccessful efforts to drive Pitt from power, ib. : West- minster election, 449 ; Mr. Fox's speech on the subject, 450 ; decision of the House in his favor, ib. ; derange- ment of the King, ib. ; Mr. Fox asserts the right of the Prince of Wales to the Regency, 451 ; King recovers, 452 ; Mr. Fox's speech against Mr. Pitt for arming against Russia, 453 ; his Libel bill, ib. ; his views of the French Revolution, 454 ; his speech on Mr. Pitt's rejection of Bonaparte's overtures for peace, 458 ; comes in under Lord Grenvjlle as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 459 ; his death, personal appearance, 460 ; characteristics of his oratory, ib. Speech on the East India Bill 462 Speech on Secret Influence 474 Speech on the Westminster Scrutiny 481 Speech on the Russian Armament 500 Speech on Parliamentary Reform 515 Speech on the Rejection of Bonaparte's Overtures for Peace 528 CONTENTS. vu WILLIAM PITT Page 551 His early ill health and inability to attend a public school, 551 ; his remarkable proficiency at home, ib. ; goes to Cambridge at fourteen, ib. ; his ambition from boyhood to be an orator, ib. ; his training with that view at col- lege, 552 ; his mode of studying the classics, ib. ; his em- inence in the mathematics, ib. ; his severe discipline in logic, 553 ; in mental science and political economy, ib. ; his early social habits, 554 ; comparison between him and Lord Chatham, 555 ; his call to the bar, ib. ; his election to Parliament, 556 ; remarkable success of his maiden speech, ib. ; joins the Whig9, ib. ; his sarcasm on Lords North and Germaine, 557 ; comes in with Lord Shelburne as Chancellor of the Exchequer at the age of twenty-three, ib. ; his brilliant speech against Mr. Fox and the Coalitionists, 558 ; his felicitous quotation from Horace, 561 ; is driven out with Lord Shelburne by the Coalition, ib. ; attacks Mr. Fox's East India Bill, 562 ; made Prime Minister at twenty-four, 563 ; Mr. Fox's efforts to drive him out, ib. ; his energetic resist- ance, 564 ; extraordinary scene in the House, 565 ; his keen rebuke of General Conway, ib. ; his ultimate tri- umph, 568 ; his East India Bill, ib. ; motion for reform in Parliament, 569 ; plan of paying the public debt, 570 ; his admirable speech against the Slave Trade, ib. ; war with France, 571 ; eloquent speech when his proposals of peace were rejected by the French, 575 ; speech of great compass and power when he refused to treat with Bonaparte, 576 ; resigns at the end of seventeen years, ib. ; returns to power, 577 ; his death, ib. ; per- sonal appearance and characteristics of his eloquence, 577-8. Speech on the Abolition of the Slave Trade 579 Speech on the Rupture of Negotiations with France. 593 Speech on Refusing to Negotiate with Bonaparte . . 604 LORD ERSKINE 629 His birth at Edinburgh, 629 ; early education at Edin- burgh and St. Andrews, ib. ; his remarkable versatility of mind and liveliness of feeling, ib. ; goes to sea at fourteen as a midshipman, ib. ; enters the army as an ensign at eighteen, 630 ; marries at twenty, ib. ; his studies in English literature, ib. ; determines to study law. 631 ; his call to the bar, ib. ; his first retainer and remarkable success, ib. ; his instantaneous overflow of business, 632 ; case of Lord George Gordon, ib. ; enters Parliament and supports Fox, ib. ; goes out with the Coalition ministry, 633 ; State Trials, ib. ; made Lord Chancellor under the Grenville ministry, 634 ; his re- tirement and death, ib. ; personal appearance and char- acter of his eloquence, 635-6. Speech in behalf of Lord George Gordon 637 Speech on the Rights of Juries 655 Speech in behalf of Stockdale 683 Speech in behalf of Frost 698 Speech in behalf of Bingham 708 Speech in behalf of Hardy 713 Speech against Williams for the publication of Paine's Age of Reason 761 Speech in behalf of Hadfield 766 Speech in behalf of Markham 778 JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN 785 His birth and parentage, 785 ; the family, though in low circumstances, remarkable for intellectual vigor, ib. ; his early love of sport and wild adventure, ib. ; is sent to school and to the university by a clergyman of the neighborhood, ib. ; distinguished for his classical attain- ments and love of metaphysical inquiry, 786 ; studies law in London, ib. ; his unwearied efforts to remove his defects and gain fluency as a public speaker, ib. ; settles in Dublin and rises to early distinction, ib. ; forms the Society of the Monks of the Screw, ib. ; his celebra- ted address to Lord Avonmore respecting that Society, 787 ; enters the Irish House of Commons, ib. ; his bold* ness and eloquence during the State Trials, 787-8; Robert Emmett and Sarah Curran, 788 ; is appointed Master of the Rolls, ib. ; his misfortunes and decline of health, 788-9 ; resigns his office, 789 ; his death, ib. ; his characteristic excellences and faults as an or- ator, ib. Speech in behalf of Rowan 790 Speech in behalf of Finnerty 805 Speech against the Marquess of Headfort 814 SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH Page 821 His birth near Inverness, Scotland, 821 ; precocity and early love of reading, ib. ; distinction at school, ib. ; per- suades his school-fellows to practice extemporaneous speaking, ib. ; goe9 to the university, ib. ; early attach- ment to metaphysical inquiries, ib. ; intimacy and union of studies with Robert Hall, 821-22 ; studies medicine at Edinburgh, 822 ; removes to London, and supports him- self by writing for the periodical press, ib. ; publishes his Vindiciae Galliciaj in answer to Burke on the French Revolution, ib. ; studies law, and is called to the bar, 823 ; delivers his lectures on the Law of Nature and Na- tions, ib. ; beautiful character of Grotius in his Intro- ductory Lecture, 823-24 ; success as an advocate, 824 ; his speech in defense of Peltier when prosecuted for a libel on Bonaparte, ib. ; encomiums of Lord Erskine and Robert Hall on this speech, 825 ; is appointed Recorder of Bombay, and raised to the honors of knighthood, ib. ; spends eight years in India, and returns with a broken constitution, ib. ; enters Parliament, ib. ; becomes Pro- fessor of Law and General Politics in Ilaileybury Col- lege, 826 ; his literary labors, ib. ; his character as a par- liamentary orator, ib. ; his death, ib. Speech in behalf of Peltier 827 Character of Charles J. Fox 850 GEORGE CANNING 851 His birth in London, 851 ; descended from an Irish fam- ily of distinction, ib. ; premature death of his father, ib. ; dependent condition of his mother, who goes on to the stage for her support, ib. ; his early proficiency at school, ib. ; his love of English literature, ib. ; is removed to Eton, ib. ; induces his companions to establish a paper called the Microcosm, ib. ; takes the lead in a debating society, 852 ; leaves Eton with its highest honors, and enters the University of Oxford, ib. ; when freshman, gains the Chancellor's prize for Latin composition, ib. ; high standing at Oxford, ib. ; influence of competition, ib. ; leaves the university and commences the study of the law, ib. ; is invited by Mr. Pitt to become his polit- ical adherent, ib. ; elected to Parliament, ib. ; his early character as a speaker, 853 ; unites in establishing the Anti-Jacobin Review, ib. ; author of the most striking poetical effusions in the work, ib. ; the Needy Knife- grinder, 853-4 ; made Under Secretary of State, and aft- erward Treasurer of the Navy by Mr. Pitt, 854 ; becomes Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Duke of Port- land, ib. ; fights a duel with Lord Castlereagh, and goes out of office, ib. ; is chosen member of Parliament for Liverpool, 855 ; goes as embassador extraordinary to Lisbon, ib. ; appointed Governor General of India, ib. ; is appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs, ib. ; his strong stand against the invasion of Spain by France, ib. ; his celebrated speech on giving aid to Portugal when in- vaded from Spain, 856 ; is made Prime Minister, ib. ; his health soon after fails him, ib. ; his death, ib. ; sketch of his character by Sir James Mackintosh, 856-8. Speech on the Fall of Bonaparte 859 Speech on Radical Reform 865 Speech delivered at Plymouth 873 Speech on Affording Aid to Portugal 875 Extracts 883 LORD BROUGHAM 886 Descended from one of the most ancient families of West- moreland, England, 886 ; born at Edinburgh, ib. ; edu- cated at the High School under Dr. Adam, ib. ; rapidity of his mind from early life, ib. ; enters the University of Edinburgh, ib. ; distinguished for his mathematical attainments, ib. ; early election to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, ib. ; studies law, ib. ; his training in extem- poraneous debate, ib. ; publishes his work on Colonial Policy, ib. ; removes to London and commences the practice of the law, 887 ; is a regular contributor to the Edinburgh Review, ib. ; becomes a member of Parlia- ment, ib. ; subjects of his published speeches, ib. ; char- acter of his oratory, 888 ; comparison between him and Mr. Canning, ib. ; his attack upon Canning in 1823, when the latter gave him the lie, 889, 890. Speech on the Army Estimates 891 Speech in behalf of Williams 896 Speech on the Invasion of Spain by France 904 Speech on Parliamentary Reform 914 Inaugural Discourse, when inducted as Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow 937 SELECT BRITISH ELOQUENCE. SIR JOHN ELIOT. John Eliot was descended from a family of great respectability in Cornwall, and was born on the 20th of April, 1590. After enjoying the best advantages for educa- tion which England could afford, and spending some years in foreign travel, he was elected to Parliament at the age of thirty-three, and became one of the most prom- inent members in the House of Commons under Charles I. The House embraced at this time, some of the ablest and most learned men of the age, such as Sir Edward Coke, John Hampden, Selden, St. John, Pym, &c. Among these, Sir John Eliot stood pre-eminent for the force and fervor of his eloquence. The general style of speaking at that day was weighty, grave, and sententious, but tinctured with the pedantry of the preceding reign, and destitute of that warmth of feeling which is essential to the character of a great orator. Eliot, Wentworth, and a few others were exceptions ; and Eliot especially spoke at times with all the en- thusiasm and vehemence of the early days of Greece and Rome. Hence he was appointed one of the managers of the House when the Duke of Buckingham was impeached in 1626, and had the part assigned him of making the closing argument against the Duke before the House of Lords. This he did with such energy and effect as to awaken the keenest resentment of the Court ; so that two days after he was called out of the House, as if to receive a message from the King, and was instantly seized and hurried off by water to the Tower. The Commons, on hearing of this breach of privilege, were thrown into violent commotion. The cry " Rise !" " Rise !" was heard from every part of the hall. They did immediately adjourn, and met again only to record their resolution, " Not to do any more busi- ness until they were righted in their privileges." This decisive measure brought the government to a stand, and reduced them to the humiliating necessity of releasing Sir John Eliot, and also Sir Dudley Diggs, another of the managers who had been arrested on the same occasion. Eliot and his companion returned in triumph to the House, which voted that " they had not exceeded the commission intrusted to them." In consequence of this defeat, and the backwardness of the Commons to grant the supplies demanded, Charles soon after dissolved Parliament, and determined to raise money by "forced loans." Great numbers resisted this imposition, and among them Eliot and Hampden, who, with seventy-six others of the gentry, were thrown into prison for refusing to surrender their property to the Crown ; while hundreds of inferior rank were impressed into the army or navy by way of punishment. The King found, however, that with all this violence he could not raise the necessary sup- plies, and was compelled to call another Parliament within eight months. Eliot, Hampden, and many others who had been lying under arrest, were elected members of the new House of Commons while thus confined in prison, and were released only a few days before the meeting of Parliament. A 2 SIR JOHN ELIOT These violent invasions of the rights of property and person, naturally came up for consideration at an early period of the session. The Commons, as the result of their discussions, framed, on the 27th of May, 1628, that second Great Charter of the liberties of England, the Petition of Bight ; so called because drawn up, in the humble spirit of the day, in the form of a petition to the King, but having, when ratified by his concurrence, all the authority of a fundamental law of the kingdom. This document was prepared by Sir Edward Coke at the age of eighty-three, and was one of the last public acts of that distinguished lawyer. It provided, that no loan or tax might be levied but by consent of Parliament ; that no man might be imprisoned but by legal process ; that soldiers might not be quartered on people con- trary to their wills ; and that no commissions be granted for executing martial law. On the 2d of June, Charles returned an evasive answer, in which he endeavored to satisfy the Commons without giving a legal and binding assent to the petition. The next day, Sir John Eliot made the following speech. It breathes throughout, that spirit of affection and reverence for the King's person which was still felt by both houses of Parliament. It does not dwell, therefore, on those recent acts of arbitrary power in which the King might be supposed to have reluctantly concurred ; and the fact is a striking one, that Eliot does not even allude to his late cruel imprisonment, a decisive proof that he was not actuated by a spirit of personal resentment. The entire speech was directed against the royal Favorite, the Duke of Buckingham. Its object was, to expose his flagrant misconduct during the preceding ten years, under the reign of James as well as Charles ; and to show that through his duplicity, in- competency, and rash counsels, the honor of the kingdom had been betrayed, its allies sacrificed, its treasures wasted, and those necessities of the King created which gave rise to the arbitrary acts referred to in the Petition of Eight. The facts which Eliot adduces in proof, are very briefly mentioned, or barely alluded to, because they were fresh in the minds of all, and had created a burning sense of wrong and dishonor throughout the whole kingdom. They will be explained in brief notes appended to the speech ; but, to feel their full force, the reader must go back to the history of the times, and place himself in the midst of the scene. There is in this speech, a union of dignity and fervor which is highly character- istic of the man. " His mind," says Lord Nugent, " was deeply imbued with a love of philosophy and a confidence in religion which gave a lofty tone to his eloquence." His fervor, acting on a clear and powerful understanding, gives him a simplicity, directness, and continuity of thought, a rapidity of progress, and a vehemence of ap- peal, which will remind the reader of the style of Demosthenes. His whole soul is occupied with the subject. He seizes upon the strong points of his case with such absorbing interest, that all those secondary and collateral trains of thought with which a speaker like Burke, amplifies and adorns the discussion, are rejected as un- worthy of the stern severity of the occasion. The eloquence lies wholly in the thought ; and the entire bareness of the expression, the absence of all ornament, adds to the effect, because there is nothing interposed to break the force of the blow. The antique air of the style heightens the interest of the speech ; and will recommend it particularly to those who have learned to relish the varied construc- tion and racy English of our early writers. SPEECH OF SIR JOHN ELIOT ON THE PETITION OF RIGHT, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, JUNE 3, 1G28. Mr. Speaker, — We sit here as the great Council of the King-, and in that capacity, it is our duty to take into consideration the state and affairs of the kingdom, and when there is occa- sion, to give a true representation of them by way of counsel and advice, with what we con- ceive necessary or expedient to be done. In this consideration, I confess many a sad thought hath affrighted me, and that not only in respect of our dangers from abroad (which yet I know are great, as they have been often prest and dilated to us), but in respect of our disor- ders here at home, which do enforce those dan- gers, and by which they are occasioned. For I believe I shall make it clear to you, that both at first, the cause of these dangers were our disor- ders, and our disorders now are yet our greatest dangers — that not so much the potency of our enemies as the weakness of ourselves, doth threat- en us : so that the saying of one of the Fathers may be assumed by us, " non tarn potentia sua quam ncgligentia nostra," "not so much by their power as by our neglect." Our want of true devotion to heaven — our insincerity and doub- ling in religion — our want of councils — our pre- cipitate actions — the insufficiency or unfaithful- ness of our generals abroad — the ignorance or corruption of our ministers at home — the impov- erishing of the sovereign — the oppression and depression of the subject — the exhausting of our treasures — the waste of our provisions — con- sumption of our ships — destruction of our men — these make the advantage to our enemies, not the reputation of their arms ; and if in these there be not reformation, we need no foes abroad : Time itself will ruin us. To show this more fully, I believe you will all hold it necessary that what I say, should not seem an aspersion on the state or imputation on the government, as I have known such motions misinterpreted. But far is this from me to pro- pose, who have none but clear thoughts of the excellency of the King; nor can I have other ends but the advancement of his Majesty's glory. I shall desire a little of your patience extraordi- nary, as I lay open the particulars, which I shall do with what brevity I may, answerable to the importance of the cause and the necessity now upon us; yet with such respect and observation to the time, as I hope it shall not be thought troublesome. I. For the first, then, our insincerity and doub- ling in religion, is the greatest and most danger- ous disorder of all others. This hath never been unpunished ; and of this we have many strong oxamples of all states and in all times to awe us. What testimony doth it want? Will you have authority of books? Look on the collections of the Committee for Religion ; there is too clear an evidence. See there the commission procured for composition with the papists of the North ! Mark the proceedings thereupon, and you will find them to little less amounting than a tolera- tion in effect : the slight payments, and the easi- ness of them, will likewise show the favor that is intended. Will you have proofs of men ? Wit- ness the hopes, witness the presumptions, wit- ness the reports of all the papists generally. Ob- serve the dispositions of commanders, the trust of officers, the confidence in secretaries to em- ployments in this kingdom, in Ireland, and else- where. These will all show that it hath too great a certainty. And to this add bin the incontrovertible evidence of that All-powerful Hand, which we have felt so sorely, that gave it full assurance ; for as the heavens oppose themselves to our impiety, so it is we that first opposed the heavens. 1 II. For the second, our want of councils, that great disorder in a state under which there can not be stability. If effects may show their causes (as they are often a perfect demonstration of them), our misfortunes, our disaster's, serve to prove our deficiencies in council, and the conse- quences they draw with them. If reason be al- lowed in this dark age, the judgment of depend- encies and foresight of contingencies in affairs, do confirm my position. For, if we view our- selves at home, are we in strength, are we in reputation, equal to our ancestors ? If we view ourselves abroad, are our friends as many ? are our enemies no more ? Do our friends retain their safety and possessions ? Do not our ene- mies enlarge themselves, and gain from them and To what council owe we the loss of the Palatinate, where we sacrificed both our hon- or and our men sent thither, stopping those great- er powers appointed for the service, by which it might have been defended ?- What council gave 1 The gun-powder plot for blowing up both hous- es of Parliament, and extirpating the Protestant re- ligion at a siugle stroke, was still fresh in the minds of all. It is not, therefore, surprising, at a period when correct views of religious liberty wen unknown in England, that any remissness in ex- ecuting the laws against Catholics, was regarded with great jealousy by Eliot and liis friends, espe- cially as the mother of Buckingham was of that com- munion. 2 Frederick V., the Elector Palatine, who married "the beautiful Elizabeth," sister of Charles I., had been attacked on religious grounds by a union of Catholic states in Germany, with Austria at their head, stripped of the Palatinate, and driven as an exile into Holland, with his wife and child AT 4 SIR JOHN ELIOT ON THE f!628. direction to the late action, whose wounds are yet bleeding, I mean the expedition to Rhe, of which there is yet so sad a memory in all men ? What design for us, or advantage to our state, could that impart ? You know the wisdom of your ancestors, and the practice of their times, how they preserved their safeties. We all know, and have as much cause to doubt [i. e., distrust or guard against] as they had, the greatness and ambition of that kingdom, which the Old World could not satisfy. 3 Against this greatness and ambition, we like- wise know the proceedings of that princess, that never-to-be-forgotten, excellent Queen Eliza- beth, whose name, without admiration, falls not into mention even with her enemies. You know how she advanced herself, and how she advanced the nation in glory and in state ; how she de- pressed her enemies, and how she upheld her friends ; how she enjoyed a full security, and made those our scorn who now are made our terror. Some of the principles she built on were these ; and if I mistake, let reason and our statesmen contradict me. First, to maintain, in what she might, a uni- ty in France, that the kingdom, being at peace within itself, might be a bulwark to keep back the power of Spain by land. Next, to preserve an amity and league be- tween that state and us, that so we might come in aid of the Low Countries [Holland], and by that means receive their ships, and help them by sea. This triple cord, so working between France, the States [Holland], and England, might enable us, as occasion should require, to give assistance unto others. And by this means, as the experi- ence of that time doth tell us, we were not only free from those fears that now possess and trouble us, but then our names were fearful to our ene- mies. See now what correspondency our action had with this. Try our conduct by these rules. It did induce, as a necessary consequence, a di- vision in France between the Protestants and their king, of which there is too woful and lam- Protestant Christendom was indignant at these wrongs ; and the King of England was expected to sustain the injured Elector on the double ground of family alliance and a community of religion. These expectations had all been disappointed by the weak, indecisive, and fluctuating counsels of Buckingham. Twelve thousand English troops were indeed sent to assist Frederick, under Count Mansfeldt, but near- ly all of them perished on the way, from mere want of foresight and preparation on the part of the En- glish government. This wanton sacrifice of life is alluded to at the close of the speech in a single word — "Mansfeldt!" — a name which at that time smote on the heart of the whole English nation. The ex- pedition to the Isle of Rhe, mentioned in the next sentence, will be explained hereafter. 3 To understand the force and beauty of this allu- sion to Spain, we must go back to the time when all Europe was filled with dismay at the power of the Spanish arms on both continents. Few things in English eloquence, as Forster remarks, are finer in expression or purpose, than this allusion and the subsequent train of thought, as addressed to English- men of that day. entable experience. 4 It hath made an absolute breach between that state and us, and so enter- tains us against France, and France in prepara- tion against us, that we have nothing to promise to our neighbors, nay, hardly to ourselves. Next, observe the time in which it was attempted, and you shall find it not only varying from those prin- ciples, but directly contrary and opposite to those ends ; and such, as from the issue and success, rather might be thought a conception of Spain than begotten here with us. [Here there was an interruption made by Sir Humphrey May, Chancellor of the Duchy and of the Privy Council, expressing a dislike ; but the House ordered Sir John Eliot to go on, where- upon he proceeded thus :] Mr. Speaker, I am sorry for this interruption, but much more sorry if there hath been occasion on my part. And, as I shall submit myself whol- ly to your judgment, to receive what censure you may give me, if I have offended, so, in the integ- rity of my intentions and the clearness of my thoughts, I must still retain this confidence, that no greatness shall deter me from the duties I owe to the service of my king and country ; but that, with a true English heart, I shall discharge my- self as faithfully and as really, to the extent of my poor power, as any man whose honors or whose offices most strictly oblige him. You know the dangers of Denmark, 5 and how much they concern us ; what in respect of our alliance and the country; what in the import- ance of the Sound ; what an advantage to our enemies the gain thereof would be ! What loss, what prejudice to us by this disunion ; we break- ing in upon France, France enraged by us, and the Netherlands at amazement between both! 6 Neither could we intend to aid that luckless king [Christian IV., of Denmark], whose loss is our disaster. Can those [the King's ministers] that express their trouble at the hearing of these things, and have so often told us in this place of their knowl- edge in the conjunctures and disjunctives of af- fairs — can they say they advised in this ? Was this an act of council, Mr. Speaker ? I have more 4 This refers to the expedition against the Isle of Rhe, respecting which see note 8. 5 Christian IV., King of Denmark, as a leading Protestant prince, and uncle to Elizabeth, wife of Frederick, the Elector Palatine, had entered warm- ly into their cause, and marched with a large army to reinstate them in the Palatinate. After some partial successes, however, he was repulsed by the Austi-ians, driven back into his own dominions, and reduced to imminent danger of being stripped of all his possessions. The English trade through the Sound into the Baltic, which was of great value, was thus on the point of being entirely cut off by the es- tablishment of a hostile power on the ruins of Den- mark. Yet England had done nothing to sustain her ally, or to protect her rights and interests in that quarter; and the English people were justly in- censed against Buckingham for this neglect. 6 Here, as above, allusion is made to the disgrace- ful expedition against the Isle of Rhe, by which France was enraged, and no diversion in favor of Denmark either made or intended. 1628.] PETITION OF RIGHT. charity than to think it ; and unless they make confession of it themselves, I can not believe it. III. For the next, the insufficiency and un- faithfulness of our generals (that great disorder abroad), what shall I say? I wish there were not cause to mention it ; and, but for the appre- hension of the danger that is to come, if the like choice hereafter be not prevented, I could will- ingly be silent. But my duty to my sovereign, my service to this House, and the safety and hon- or of my country, are above all respects ; and what so nearly trenches to the prejudice of these, must not, shall not be forborne. At Cadiz, 7 then, in that first expedition we made, when we arrived and found a conquest ready — the Spanish ships, I mean, fit for the sat- isfaction of a voyage, and of which some of the chiefest then there, themselves have since as- sured me, that the satisfaction would have been .sufficient, either in point of honor or in point of profit — why was it, neglected ? Why was it not. achieved, it being granted on all hands how feas- ible it was ? Afterward, when, with the destruction of some of our men and the exposure of others, who (though their fortune since has not been such), by chance, came off safe — when, I say, with the loss of our serviceable men, that unserviceable fort was gained, and the whole army landed, why was there nothing done ? Why was there noth- ing attempted ? If nothing was intended, where- fore did they land ? If there was a service, where- fore were they shipped again ? Mr. Speaker, it satisfies me too much [i. e., I am over-satisfied] in this case — when I think of their dry and hun- gry march into that drunken quarter (for so the soldiers termed it), which was the period [term- ination] of their journey — that divers of our men being left as a sacrifice to the enemy, that labor was at an end. For the next undertaking, at Rhe, 8 I will not 7 Buckingham, at the close of 1625, had fitted out a fleet of eighty sail, to intercept the Spanish treas- ure-ships from America, to scour the coasts of Spain, and destroy the shipping in her ports. Owing to the utter incompetency of the commander, there was no concert or subordination in the fleet. The treasure- ships were not intercepted ; but seven other large and rich Spanish ships, which would have repaid all the expenses of the expedition, were suffered to es- cape, when they might easily have been taken. At length a landing was effected in the neighborhood of Cadiz, and the paltry fort of Puntal was taken. The English soldiers broke open the wine-cellars of the country around, and became drunk and un- manageable ; so that the Spanish troops, if they had known their condition, might easily have cut the whole army to pieces. Their commander, as the only course left him, retreated to the ships, leaving some hundreds of his men to perish under the knives of the enraged peasantry. 8 Buckingham, from motives of personal resent- ment against the French king, undertook, in June, 1627, to aid the Huguenots at Rochelle, who were in a state of open rebellion. He therefore sailed with a fleet of one hundred ships and seven thou- sand hind forces, taking the command of the expe- dition himself, and expecting to be received with trouble you much; only this, in short. Was not that whole action carried against the judgment and opinion of those officers that were of the council ? Was not the first, was not the last, was not all in the landing — in the intrenching — in the continuance there — in the assault — in the retreat — without their assent ? Did any advice take place of such as were of the council ? If there should be made a particular inquisition thereof, these things will be manifest and more. I will not instance the manifesto that was made, giving the reason of these arms ; nor by whom, nor in what manner, nor on what grounds it was published, nor what effects it hath wrought, drawing, as it were, almost the whole world into league against us. Nor will I mention the leaving of the wines, the leaving of the salt, which were in our possession, and of a value, as it is said, to answer much of our expense. Nor will I dwell on that great wonder (which no Al- exander or Caesar 9 ever did), the enriching of the enemy by courtesies when our soldiers wanted help ; nor the private intercourse and parleys with the fort, which were continually held . What they intended may be read in the success ; and upon due examination thereof, the}'- would not want their proofs. For the last voyage to Rochelle, there need no observations, it is so fresh in memory ; nor will I make an inference or corollary on all. Your own knowledge shall judge what truth or what sufficiency they express. IV. For the next, the ignorance and corrup- tion of our ministers, where can you miss of in- stances ? If you survey the court, if you survey the country ; if the church, if the city be exam- open arras. But the Rochellers, having no previ- ous arrangement with him on the subject, and prob- ably distrusting his intentions, refused to admit him into the town, and advised him to take possession of the Isle of Rhe, in the neighborhood. This he did, and immediately issued a manifesto, inciting the Protestants throughout France to rebel against their government. Great indignation was awakened in Europe by this attempt to rekindle the flames of civil war in that country. His appeal was, unfor- tunately, successful. The Protestants in the south of France rose almost to a man. A bloody conflict ensued, in which they were completely crushed, and their condition rendered far more wretched than be- fore. Buckingham, in the mean time, conducted ev- ery thing wildly and at random. In October, a re- enforcement of fifteen hundred men was sent out, mentioned in the speech as " the last voyage to Ro- chelle;" but the Duke was still repulsed, with loss at every point, till he was compelled to return in disgrace, with the loss of one third of his troops, in the month of November, 1627. This speech was de- livered in June of the next year, while the nation was still smarting under the sense of the disasters and disgraces of this mad expedition. 9 This sneer at the generalship of Buckingham was keenly felt, and derived its peculiar force from the lofty pretensions and high sounding titles he as- sumed. He had also made himselt ridiculous, and even suspected of treachery, by his affectation of courtesy in the interchange of civilities with the French commanders. To this Eliot alludes with stinging effect in the remaining part of the sentence. SIR JOHN ELIOT, ETC. [1628. ined ; if you observe the bar, if the bench, if the ports, if the shipping, if the land, if the seas — all these will render you variety of proofs ; and that in such measure and proportion as shows the greatness of our disease to be such that, if there be not some speedy application for remedy, our case is almost desperate. V. Mr. Speaker, I fear I have been too long in these particulars that are past, and am unwilling to offend you : therefore in the rest I shall be shorter : and as to that which concerns the im- poverishing of the King, no other arguments will I use than such as all men grant. The exchequer, you know, is empty, and the reputation thereof gone ; the ancient lands are sold ; the jewels pawned ; the plate engaged : 10 the debts still great : almost all charges, both or- dinary and extraordinary, borne up by projects ! What poverty can be greater ? AVhat necessity so great ? What perfect English heart is not almost dissolved into sorroiv for this truth? VI. For the oppression of the subject, which, as I remember, is the next particular I proposed, it needs no demonstration. The whole kingdom is a proof; and for the exhausting of our treas- ures, that very oppression speaks it. What waste of our provisions, what consumption of our ships, what destruction of our men there hath been ; witness that expedition to Algiers 11 — witness that with Mansfeldt — witness that to Cadiz — witness the next — witness that to Rhe — witness the last (I pray God we may never have more such witnesses) — witness, likewise, the Palati- nate — witness Denmark — witness the Turks — witness the Dunkirkers — witness all ! What losses we have sustained ! How we are im- paired in munitions, in ships, in men ! It is beyond contradiction that we were nev- er so much weakened, nor ever had less hope how to be restored. These, Mr. Speaker, are our dangers, these are they who do threaten us ; and these are, like the Trojan horse, brought in cunningly to sur- prise us. In these do lurk the strongest of our enemies, ready to issue on us ; and if we do not speedily expel them, these are the signs, these the invitations to others ! These will so prepare their entrance, that we shall have no means left of refuge or defense : for if we have these ene- mies at home, how can we strive with those that are abroad ? If we be free from these, no oth- er can impeach us. Our ancient English virtue (like the old Spartan valor), cleared from these disorders — our being in sincerity of religion and once made friends with heaven ; having matu- rity of councils, sufficiency of generals, incor- ruption of officers, opulency in the King, liberty in the people, repletion in treasure, plenty of pro- visions, reparation of ships, preservation of men — our ancient English virtue, I say, thus rectified, will secure us ; and unless there be a speedy re- formation in these, I know not what hopes or ex- pectations we can have. These are the things, sir, I shall desire to have taken into consideration : that as we are the great council of the kingdom, and have the apprehension of these dangers, we may truly represent them unto the King : which I conceive we are bound to do by a triple obligation — of duty to God, of duty to his Majesty, and of duty to our count ry. And therefore I wish it may so stand with the wisdom and judgment of the House, that these things may be drawn into the body of a Remon- strance, and in all humility expressed, with a prayer to his Majesty that, for the safety of him- self, for the safety of the kingdom, and for the safety of religion, he will be pleased to give us time to make perfect inquisition thereof, or to take them into his own wisdom, and there give them such timely reformation as the necessity and justice of the case doth import. And thus, sir, with a large affection and loy- alty to his Majesty, and with a firm duty and service to my country, I have suddenly (and it may be with some disorder) expressed the weak apprehensions I have ; wherein if I have erred. I humbly crave your pardon, and so submit my- self to the censure of the House. »° Buckingham had taken the crown jewels and plate to Holland, and pawned them for £300,000. 11 Buckingham, some years before, had sent out an expedition for the capture of Algiers. It result- ed in a total failure, and so incensed the Algerines, that the commerce of England suffered ten-fold loss in consequence ; thirty -five ships, engaged in the Mediterranean trade, having been captured within a few months, and their crews sold for slaves. The King, finding, after the delivery of this speech, that he could no longer resist the de- mands of the Commons, gave his public assent to the Petition of Right, on the 7th of June, 1628. But he never forgave Sir John Eliot for his free- dom of speech. At the expiration of nine months he dissolved Parliament, determining to rule from that time without their aid or interference ; and, two days after, committed Sir John Eliot and other members to the Tower for words spoken during the sitting of Pai'liament. In this flagrant breach of privilege, and violation of the Petition of Right, he was sustained by servile courts : and Eliot, as "the greatest offender and ringleader, " was sentenced to pay a fine of c£2000, and be imprisoned in the Tower of London. After two years his health gave way under the rigor of his confinement. He then petitioned the King for a temporary release, that he might re- cover strength ; but this was denied him, unless he made the most humbling concessions. He re- fused, and sunk, at last, under the weight of his sufferings, at the end of three years, in Novem- ber, 1632, "the most illustrious confessor in the cause of liberty," says Hallam, "whom the times produced." One of his sons petitioned for liber- ty to remove his body to Cornwall for burial in his native soil, and received for answer these in- sulting words, written at the bottom of his peti- tion : " Let him be buried in the parish where I he died;" that is, in the Tou-er, the place of his j imprisonment. No wonder that such a spirit I brought Charles to the block! THE EARL OF STRAFFORD. Thomas Wentworth, first Earl of Strafford, was descended from an ancient fam- ily in Yorkshire, and was bom at the house of his maternal grandfather, in London, on the 13th of April, 1593. At St. John's College, Cambridge, where he received his education, he was distinguished not only for the strength and versatility of his genius, but for his unwearied efforts to improve his mind by the severest discipline, and especially to prepare himself for the duties of public life, as an orator and a statesman. The leading features of his character were strongly marked. He had an ardor of temperament, a fixedness of will, a native impetuosity of feeling, and a correspondent energy of action, which united to make him one of the most daring and determined men of the age. To those who rendered him the deference he ex- pected, who were ready to co-operate in his plans or become subservient to his pur- poses, he was kind and liberal. But he was quick and resentful when his will was crossed ; and even Clarendon admits that " he manifested a nature excessively imperious." He was trained from childhood, to a belief in those extravagant doctrines respect- ing the royal prerogative, which were so generally prevalent at that day. It was therefore natural that \Yentworth, in entering on public life, should seek employ- ment at Court. The King seems, from the first, to have regarded him with favor ; but Buckingham, who was then in power, was secretly jealous and hostile. Hence he was treated at times with great confidence, and raised to important offices, and again stripped suddenly of his employments, and subjected to the most mortifying rebuffs. Under these circumstances, he came out for a time as a " patriot/' and joined the popular party. That he did so, however, only in opposition to Bucking- ham, as the most effectual means of putting down a rival — that there was no change in his principles, no real sympathy between him and the illustrious men who were resisting the tyranny of Charles, is obvious from his subsequent conduct, and from the whole tenor of his private correspondence, as afterward given to the world. 1 But such was the strength of his passions, and the force of imagination (so characteristic of the highest class of orators) with which he could lay hold of. and for the time being, appropriate to himself, all the principles and feelings which be- came his new character, that he appeared to the world, and perhaps even to him- self, to have become a genuine convert to the cause of popular liberty. In the Par- liament of 1627-8, during the great discussion on the public grievances, he came forth in all his strength, " amid the delighted cheers of the House, and with a start- ling effect on the Court." After entering upon the subject with a calm and solemn tone befitting the greatness of the occasion, he rose in power as he advanced, until, when he came to speak of forced loans, and the billeting of soldiers upon families, he broke forth suddenly, with that kind of dramatic effect which he always studied, in a rapid and keen invective, which may be quoted as a specimen of his early elo- quence. " They have rent from us the light of our eyes ! enforced companies of guests, worse than the ordinances of France ! vitiated our wives and children be- fore our eyes ! brought the Crown to greater want than ever it was in, by anticipa- 1 This is shown at large by Mr. Forster in his Life of Strafford, which forms part of Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia. 8 THE EARL OF STRAFFORD. ting the revenue ! and can the shepherd be thus smitten, and the sheep not scat- tered ? They have introduced a Privy Council, ravishing at once the spheres of all ancient government ! imprisoning without bail or bond ! They have taken from us —what shall I say ? Indeed, what have they left us ? They have taken from us all means of supplying the King, and ingratiating ourselves with him, by tearing" up the roots of all property ; which if they be not seasonably set again into the ground by his Majesty's hand, we shall have, instead of beauty, baldness !" He next, in the boldest language, proposes his remedy. " By one and the same thing hath the King and the people been hurt, and by the same must they be cured : to vindicate — What ? New things ? No ! Our ancient, lawful, and vital liber- ties, by re-enforcing the ancient laws, made by our ancestors ; by setting such a stamp upon them, that no licentious spirit shall dare hereafter to enter upon them. And shall we think this a way to break a Parliament ? 2 No ! our desires are mod- est and just. I speak truly for the interests of the King and the people. If we en- joy not these, it will be impossible to relieve him." " Let no man," said he, in con- clusion, "judge this way 'a break-neck' of Parliaments ; but a way of honor to the King, nay, of profit ; for, besides the supply we shall readily give him, suitable to his occasions, we give him our hearts — our hearts, Mr. Speaker ; a gift that God calls for, and fit for a King" In the same spirit, he united with Eliot in urging forward the Petition of Right ; and when the Lords proposed an additional clause, that it was designed " to leave entire that sovereig?i power with which his Majesty is intrusted," he resisted its insertion, declaring, " If we admit of the addition, we leave the subject worse than we found him. These laws are not acquainted with ' Sovereign Power !' ' The Court were now thoroughly alarmed. But they knew the man. There is evidence from his own papers, that within ten days from this time, he was in nego- tiation with the speaker, Finch ; and " almost before the burning words which have just been transcribed, had cooled from off the lips of the speaker, a transfer of his services to the Court was decided on." In a few days Parliament was prorogued ; and shortly after, Sir Thomas Wentworth was created Baron Wentworth, and ap- pointed a member of that same Privy Council which he had just before denounced, as " ravishing at once the spheres of all ancient government !" The death of Buck- ingham about a month after, placed him, in effect, at the head of affairs. He was made a Viscount, and Lord President of the North ; and at a subsequent period, Lord Deputy, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and Earl of Strafford. The twelve years that followed, during which Charles undertook to reign with- out the aid of Parliaments, were filled up with arbitrary exactions, destructive mo- nopolies, illegal imprisonments, and inhuman corporal punishments, which Strafford was known to have recommended or approved ; while his presidency in the North was marked by numerous acts of high-handed injustice, and his government of Ire- land carried on with such violence and oppression as " gave men warning," in the words of Clarendon, " how they trusted themselves in the territories where he com- manded." In 1640 Charles was compelled by his necessities to convene another Parliament. The day of retribution had at length arrived. The voice of three kingdoms called for vengeance on the author of their calamities ; and not a man was found, except Charles and Laud, to justify or excuse his conduct. Even Digby, who sought only to save his life, speaks of Strafford, as " a name of hatred in the present age by his practices, and fit to be made a name of terror to future ages by his punishment." At the moment when, governed by his accustomed policy, he was preparing to 2 Alluding to the threats of the Parliament being dissolved for their freedom of speech. THE EARL OF STRAFFORD. 9 strike, the first blow, and to impeach the leaders of the popular party, as the surest means to avert the coming storm, he was himself impeached by the House of Com- mons, stripped of all his dignities, and thrown into the Tower. The 22d of March, 1641, was fixed upon for his trial. The great object of his accusers was to estab- lish against him the charge of " attempting to subvert the fundamental laws of the realm." In doing so, they brought forward many offenses of inferior magnitude, as an index of his intentions ; and they never pretended that more than two or three of the articles contained charges which amounted strictly to high treason. In conducting the impeachment, they had great difficulties to encounter. They could find precedents in abundance to justify the doctrine of cofistructive treason. Still, it was a doctrine which came with an ill grace from the friends of civil liber- ty ; and it gave wide scope to the eloquence of Strafford, in some of the most pow- erful and touching appeals of his masterly defense. In addition to this, the time had not yet arrived when treason against the state, as distinguished from an assault upon the life or personal authority of the king, was distinctly recognized in England. Strafford had undoubtedly, as a sworn counselor of Charles, given him unconstitu- tional advice ; had told him that he was absolved from the established rules of gov- ernment ; that he might use his simple prerogative for the purpose of raising money, above or against the decisions of Parliament. Such an attempt to subvert the fun- damental laws of the kingdom, if connected with any overt act, would now be trea- son. But the doctrine was a new one. The idea of considering the sovereign as only the representative of the state ; of treating an encroachment on the established rights of the people as a crime of equal magnitude with a violation of the King's person and authority, had not yet become familiar to the English mind. We owe it to the men who commenced this impeachment ; and it is not wonderful that Strafford, with his views, and those of most men at that day, could declare with perfect sincerity *that he was utterly unconscious of the crime of treason. The trial lasted from the 22d of March to the 13th of April, 1641, during which time the Earl appeared daily before the court, clothed in black, and wearing no badge or ornament but his George. " The stern and simple character of his feat- ures accorded with the occasion ; his countenance ' manly black,' as Whitlocke de- scribes it, and his thick hair cut short from his ample forehead." He was tall in person, but through early disease had contracted a stoop of the shoulders, which would have detracted from his appearance on any other occasion ; but being now ascribed to intense suffering from the stone and the gout, which he was known to have endured during the progress of the trial, it operated in his favor, and excited much sympathy in his behalf. During eighteen days he thus stood alone against his numerous accusers, answering in succession the twenty-eight articles of the im- peachment, which of themselves filled two hundred sheets of paper, examining the witnesses, commenting on their evidence, explaining, defending, palliating his con- duct on every point with an adroitness and force, a dignity and self-possession, which awakened the admiration even of his enemies. On the last day of the trial, he summed up his various defenses in a speech of which the report given below is only an imperfect outline. It enables us, however, to form some conception of the eloquence and pathos of this extraordinary man. There is in it a union of dignity, simplicity, and force — a felicity in the selection of topics — a dexterity of appeal to the interests and feelings of his judges — a justness and elevation in every sentiment he utters — a vividness of illustration, a freshness of imagery, an elasticity and airi- ness of diction — an appearance of perfect sincerity, and a pervading depth of passion breaking forth at times in passages of startling power or tenderness, which belongs only to the highest class of oratory. The pathos of the conclusion has been much admired ; and if we go back in imagination to the scene as presented in Westmin- iO THE EARL OF STRAFFORD. ster Hall — the once proud Earl standing amid the wreck of his fortunes, with that splendid court around him which so lately bowed submissive to his will ; with his humbled monarch looking on from behind the screen that concealed his person, un- able to interpose or arrest the proceedings ; with that burst of tenderness at the thought of earlier days and of his wife, the Lady Arabella Hollis, " that saint in heaven," to whose memory he had always clung amid the power and splendor of later life ; with his body bowed down under the pressure of intense physical suffer- ing, and his strong spirit utterly subdued and poured out like water in that start- ling cry, " My Lords, my Lords, my Lords, something more I had intended to say, but my voice and my spirit fail me" — we can not but feel that there are few pas- sages of equal tenderness and power in the whole range of English eloquence. We are strongly reminded of Shakspe are's delineation of Wolsey under similar circum- stances, in some of the most pathetic scenes which poetry has ever depicted. We feel that Strafford, too, with his " heart new opened," might have added his testi- mony to the folly of ambition, and the bitter fruits of seeking the favor of a king, at the expense of the people's rights, and the claims of justice and truth. Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition ! By that sin fell the angels ; how can man, then, The image of his Maker hope to win by't ? Love thyself last ! Cherish those hearts that hate thee ! Corruption wins not more than honesty ! Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, To silence envious tongues ! Be just and fear not ! Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, Thy God's, and Truth's ! Then if thou fallest, Cromwell, Thou fallest a blessed martyr." SPEECH OF THE EARL OF STRAFFORD WHEN IMPEACHED FOR HIGH TREASON BEFORE THE HOUSE OF LORDS, APRIL 13, 1641.' My Lords. — This day I stand before you charged with high treason. The burden of the charge is heavy, yet far the more so because it hath borrowed the authority of the House of Commons. If they were not interested, I might expect a no less easy, than I do a safe, issue. But let neither my weakness plead my inno- cence, nor their power my guilt. If your Lord- ships will conceive of my defenses, as they are in themselves, without reference to either party — and I shall endeavor so to present them — I hope to go hence as clearly justified by you, as I now am in the testimony of a good conscience by myself. My Lords, I have all along, during this charge, watched to see that poisoned arrow of Treason, which some men would fain have feathered in my heart ; but, in truth, it hath not been my quickness to discover any such evil yet within my breast, though now, perhaps, by sinister in- formation, sticking to my clothes. They tell me of a two-fold treason, one against the statute, another by the common law ; this direct, that consecutive ; this individual, that ac- cumulative ; this in itself, that by way of con- struction. As to this charge of treason, I must and do acknowledge, that if I had the least suspicion of my own guilt, I would save your Lordships the pains. I would cast the first stone. I would pass the first sentence of condemnation against myself. And whether it be so or not, I now re- fer to your Lordships' judgment and deliberation. You, aiid you only, under the care and protec- tion of my gracious master, are my judges. Un- der favor, none of the Commons are my peers, nor can they be my judges. I shall ever cele- brate the providence and wisdom of your noble ancestors, who have put the keys of life and death, so far as concerns you and your posterity, into your own hands. None but your own selves, my Lords, know the rate of your noble blood : none but yourselves must hold the balance in dis- posing of the same. 2 1 There are in the Parliamentary History two re- ports of this speech, one by Whitlocke, and the other by some unknown friend of Strafford. As each has important passages which are not contain- ed in the other, they are here combined by a slight modification of language, in order to give more com- pleteness to this masterly defense. 2 Strafford had no chance of acquittal except by Inducing the Lords, from a regard to their dignity and safety, to rise above the influence of the Com- mons as his prosecutors, and of the populace who surrounded Westminster Hall by thousands, de- manding his condemnation. In this view, his exor- I shall now proceed in repeating my defenses as they are reducible to the two main points of treason. And, I. For treason against the statute, which is the only treason in effect, there is nothing al- leged for that but the fifteenth, twenty-second, and twenty-seventh articles. [Here the Earl brought forward the replies which he had previously made to these articles, which contained all the charges of individual acts of treason. The fifteenth article affirmed that he had "inverted the ordinary course of justice in Ireland, and given immediate sentence upon the lands and goods of the King's subjects, un- der pretense of disobedience ; had used a mili- tary way for redressing the contempt, and laid soldiers upon the lands and goods of the King's subjects, to their utter ruin." There was a de- ficiency of proofs as to the facts alleged. The Earl declared that " the customs of England dif- fered exceedingly from those of Ireland ; and therefore, though cessing of men might seem strange here, it was not so there;" and that " nothing was more common there than for the governors to appoint soldiers to put all manner of sentences into execution," as he proved by the testimony of Lord Dillon, Sir Adam Loftus. and Sir Arthur Teringham. The twenty-seventh article charged him with having, as lieutenant general, charged on the county of York eight pence a day for supporting the train-bands of said county during one month, when called out ; and having issued his warrants without legal authority for the collection of the same. The Earl replied that " this money was freely and voluntarily offered by them of York- shire, in a petition ; and that he had done nothing but on the petition of the county, the King's spe- cial command, and the connivance, at least, of the Great Council, and upon a present necessity for the defense and safety of the county, when about to be invaded from Scotland." The twenty-second and twenty-third articles were the most pressing. Under these he was charged with saying in the Privy Council that " the Parliament had forsaken the King ; that the King ought not to suffer himself to be over- mastered by the stubbornness of the people j and that, if his Majesty pleased to employ forces, he had some in Ireland that misrht serve to reduce dium has admirable dexterity and force. He re- verts to the same topic in his peroration, assuring them, with the deepest earnestness am! solemnity (and, as the event showed, with perfect truth', that if they gave him up. they must expect to perish with him in the general ruin of the peerage. 12 THE EARL OF STRAFFORD [1641. this kingdom," thus counseling to his Majesty to put down Parliament, and subvert the funda- mental laws of the kingdom by force and arms. To this the Earl replied, (1.) That there was only one witness adduced to prove these words, viz., Sir Henry Vane, secretary of the Council, but that two or more witnesses are necessary by statute to prove a charge of treason. (2.) That the others who were present, viz., the Duke of Northumberland, the Marquess of Hamilton, Lord Cottington, and Sir Thomas Lucas, did not, as they deposed under oath, remember these words. (3.) That Sir Henry Vane had given his testimony as if he was in doubt on the sub- ject, saying "as I do remember," and "such or such like words," which admitted the words might be "that kingdom," meaning Scotland.] II. As to the other kind, viz., constructive treason, or treason by way of accumulation / to make this out, many articles have been brought against me, as if in a heap of mere felonies or misdemeanors (for they reach no higher) there could lurk some prolific seed to produce what is treasonable ! But, my Lords, when a thousand misdemeanors will not make one felony, shall twenty-eight misdemeanors be heightened into treason ? I pass, however, to consider these charges, which affirm that I have designed the overthrow both of religion and of the state. 1. The first charge seemeth to be used rath- er to make me odious than guilty ; for there is not the least proof alleged — nor could there be an} T — concerning my confederacy with the pop- ish faction. Never was a servant in authority under my lord and master more hated and ma- ligned by these men than myself, and that for an impartial and strict execution of the laws against them; for observe, my Lords, that the greater number of the witnesses against me, whether from Ireland or from Yorkshire, were of that re- ligion. But for my own resolution, I thank God I am ready every hour of the clay to seal my dis- satisfaction to the Church of Rome with my dear- est blood. Give me leave, my Lords, here to pour forth the grief of my soul before you. These pro- ceedings against me seem to be exceeding rig- orous, and to have more of prejudice than equity — that upon a supposed charge of hypocrisy or errors in religion, I should be made so odious to three kingdoms. A great many thousand eyes have seen my accusations, whose ears will never hear that when it came to the upshot, those very things were not alleged against me ! Is this fan- dealing among Christians? But I have lost nothing by that. Popular applause was ever nothing in my conceit. The uprightness and integrity of a good conscience ever was, and ever shall be, my continual feast ; and if I can be justified in your Lordships' judgments from this great imputation — as I hope I am, seeing these gentlemen have thrown down the bucklers — I shall account myself justified by the whole kingdom, because absolved by you, who are the better part, the very soul and life of the kingdom. 2. As for my designs against the state, I dare plead as much innocency as in the matter of re- ligion. I have ever admired the wisdom of our ancestors, who have so fixed the pillars of this monarchy that each of them keeps a due propor- tion and measure with the others — have so ad' mirably bound together the nerves and sinewa of the state, that the straining of any one may bring danger and sorrow to the whole economy. The Prerogative of the Crown and the Propriety of the Subject have such natural relations, that this takes nourishment from that, and that foun- dation and nourishment from this. And so, as in the lute, if any one string be wound up too high or too low, you have lost the whole harmony: so here the excess of prerogative is oppression, of pretended liberty in the subject is disorder and anarchy. The prerogative must be used as God doth his omnipotence, upon extraordinary occasions ; the laws must have place at all other times. As there must be prerogative because there must be extraordinary occasions, so the propriety of the subject is ever to be maintained, if it go in equal pace with the other. They are fellows and companions that are, and ever must be, inseparable in a well-ordered kingdom ; and no way is so fitting, so natural to nourish and entertain both, as the frequent use of Parlia- ments, by which a commerce and acquaintance is kept up between the King and his subjects. 3 These thoughts have gone along with me these fourteen years of my public employments, and shall, God willing, go with me to the grave ! God, his Majesty, and my own conscience, yea, and all of those who have been most accessary to my inward thoughts, can bear me witness that I ever did inculcate this, that the happiness of a kingdom doth consist in a just poise of the King's prerogative and the subject's liberty, and that things could never go well till these went hand in hand together. I thank God for it, by my master's favor, and the providence of my an- cestors, I have an estate which so interests me in the commonwealth, that I have no great mind to be a slave, but a subject. Nor could I wish the cards to be shuffled over again, in hopes to fall upon a better set ; nor did I ever nourish such base and mercenary thoughts as to become a pander to the tyranny and ambition of the greatest man living. No ! I have, and ever shall, aim at a fair but bounded liberty ; remem- bering always that I am a freeman, yet a sub- ject — that I have rights, but under a monarch. It hath been my misfortune, now when I am gray-headed, to be charged by the mistakers of the times, who are so highly bent that all ap- pears to them to be in the extreme for monarchy which is not for themselves. Hence it is that designs, words, yea, intentions, are brought out as demonstrations of my misdemeanors. Such a multiplying-glass is a prejudicate opinion ! 3 Strafford was generally regarded as the secret author of the King's aversion to Parliaments, which had led him to dispense with their use for many- years. Hence the above declaration, designed to relieve him from the effects of this prejudice. 1641] WHEN IMPEACHED FOR HIGH TREASON. 13 The articles against me refer to expressions and actions — my expressions either in Ireland or in England, my actions either before or after these late stirs. (1.) Some of the expressions referred to were uttered in private, and I do protest against their being drawn to my injury in this place. If, my Lords, words spoken to friends in familiar dis- course, spoken at one's table, spoken in one's chamber, spoken in one's sick-bed, spoken, per- haps, to gain better reason, to gain one's self more clear light and judgment by reasoning — if these things shall be brought against a man as treason, this (under favor) takes away the com- fort of all human society. By this means we shall be debarred from speaking — the principal joy and comfort of life — with wise and good men, to become wiser and better ourselves. If these things be strained to take away life, and honor, and all that is desirable, this will be a si- lent world ! A city will become a hermitage, and sheep will be found among a crowd and press of people ! No man will dare to impart his solitary thoughts or opinions to his friend and neighbor ! O f her expressions have been urged against me, which were used in giving counsel to the King. My Lords, these words were not wanton- ly or unnecessarily spoken, or whispered in a coi-ner ; they were spoken in full council, when, by the duty of my oath, I was obliged to speak according to my heart and conscience in all things concerning the King's service. If I had forborne to speak what I conceived to be for the benefit of the King and the people, I had been perjured toward Almighty God. And for deliv- ering my mind openly and freely, shall I be in danger of my life as a traitor ? If that necessity be put upon me, I thank God, by his blessing, I have learned not to stand in fear of him who can onlv kill the body. If the question be whether I must be traitor to man or perjured to God, I will be faithful to my Creator. And whatsoever shall befall me from popular rage or my own weakness, I must leave it to that almighty Be- ing, and to the justice and honor of my judges. My Lords, I conjure you not to make your- selves so unhappy as to disable your Lordships and your children, from undertaking the- great charge and trust of this Commonwealth. You inherit that trust from your fathers. You are born to great thoughts. You are nursed for the weighty employments of the kingdom. But if it be once admitted that a counselor, for delivering his opinion with others at the council board, can- dide et caste, with candor and purity of motive, under an oath of secrecy and faithfulness, shall be brought into question, upon some misappre- hension or ignorance of law — if evcrv word that he shall speak from sincere and noble intentions shall be drawn against him for the attainting of him, his children and posterity — I know not (un- der favor I speak il) any wise or noble person of fortune who will, upon such perilous and unsafe terms, adventure to be counselor to the King. Therefore I beseech your Lordships so to look on me, that my misfortune may not bring an inconvenience to yourselves. And though my words were not so advised and discreet, or so well weighed as they ought to have been, yet I trust your Lordships are too honorable and just to lay them to my charge as High Treason. Opinions may make a heretic, but that they make a traitor I have never heard till now. (2.) I am come next to speak of the actions which have been charged upon me. [Here the Earl went through with the vari- ous overt acts alleged, and repeated the sum and heads of what had been spoken by him before. In respect to the twenty-eighth article, which charged him with " a malicious design to en- gage the kingdoms of England and Scotland in a national and bloody war," but which the man- agers had not urged in the trial, he added more at large, as follows :] If that one article had been proved against me, it contained more weighty matter than all the charges besides. It would not only have been treason, but villainy, to have betrayed the trust of his Majesty's army. But as the mana- gers have been sparing, by reason of the times, as to insisting on that article, I have resolved to keep the same method, and not utter the least expression which might disturb the happy agree- ment intended between the two kingdoms. I only admire how I, being an incendiary against the Scots in the twenty-thh-d ai'ticle, am become a confederate with them in the twenty-eighth ar- ticle ! how I could be charged for betraying Newcastle, and also for fighting with the Scots at Newburne, since fighting against them was no possible means of betraying the town into their hands, but rather to hinder their passage thither ! I never advised war any further than, in my poor judgment, it concerned the very life of the King's authority, and the safety and hon- or of his kingdom. Nor did I ever see that any advantage could be made by a war in Scotland. where nothing could be gained but hard blows. For my part, I honor that nation, but I wish they may ever be under their oivn climate. I have no desire that they should be too well acquainted xvith the better soil of England. My Lords, you see what has been alleged for this constructive, or, rather, destructive treason. For my part, I have not the judgment to con- ceive, that such treason is agreeable to the fun- damental grounds either of reason or of law. Not of reason, for how can that be treason in the lump or mass, which is not so in any of its parts? or how can that make a thing treasona- ble which is not so in itself ? Not of law. since neither statute, common law, nor practice hath from the beginning of the government ever men- tioned such a thing. It is hard, my Lords, to be questioned upon a law which can not be shown ! Where hath this fire lain hid for so many hundred years, without smoke to discover it, till it thus bursts forth to consume me and my children ? My Lords, do we not live under laws ? and must we be pun- ished by laws before they are made ? Far bet- 14 THE EARL OF STRAFFORD, ETC. [1641 ter were it to live by no laws at all ; but to be governed by those characters of virtue and dis- cretion, which Nature hath stamped upon us, than to put this necessity of divination upon a man, and to accuse him of a breach of law be- fore it is a law at all! If a waterman upon the Thames split his boat by grating upon an anchor, and the same have no buoy appended to it, the owner of the anchor is to pay the loss ; but if a buoy be set there, every man passeth upon his own peril. Now where is the mark, where is the token set upon the crime, to de- clare it to be high treason ? My Lords, be pleased to give that regard to the peerage of England as never to expose your- selves to such moot points, such constructive in- terpretations of law. If there must be a trial of wits, let the subject matter be something else than the lives and honor of peers ! It will be wisdom for yourselves and your posterity to cast into the fire these bloody and mysterious vol- umes of constructive and arbitrary treason, as the primitive Christians did their books of curi- ous arts ; and betake yourselves to the plain let- ter of the law and statute, which telleth what is and what is not treason, without being ambitious to be more learned in the art of killing than our forefathers. These gentlemen tell us that they speak in defense of the Commonwealth against my arbitrary laws. Give me leave to say it, I speak in defense of the Commonwealth against their arbitrary treason ! It is now full two hundred and forty years since any man was touched for this alleged crime to this height before myself. Let us not awa- ken those sleeping lions to our destruction, by taking up a few musty records that have lain by the walls for so many ages, forgotten or neg- lected. My Lords, what is my present misfortune may be forever yours ! It is not the smallest part of my grief that not the crime of treason, but my other sins, which are exceeding many, have brought me to this bar ; and, except your Lordships' wisdom provide against it, the shed- ding of my blood may make way for the tracing out of yours. You, your estates, your pos- terity, LIE AT THE STAKE ! For my poor self, if it were not for your Lord- ships' interest, and the interest of a saint in heaven, who hath left me here two pledges on earth — [at this his breath stopped, and he shed tears abundantly in mentioning his wife] — I should never take the pains to keep up this ru- inous cottage of mine. It is loaded with such infirmities, that in truth I have no great pleas- ure to carry it about with me any longer. Nor could I ever leave it at a fitter time than this, when I hope that the better part of the world would perhaps think that by my misfortunes I had given a testimony of my integrity to my God, my King, and my country. I thank God, I count not the afflictions of the present life to be compared to that glory which is to be reveal- ed in the time to come ! My Loi-ds ! my Lords ! my Lords! something more I had intended to sa}'-, but my voice and my spirit fail me. Only I do in all humility and submission cast myself down at your Lordships' feet, and desire that I may be a beacon to keep ) T ou from shipwreck. Do not put such rocks in your own way, which no prudence, no circum- spection can eschew or satisfy, but by your utter ruin ! And so, my Lords, even so, with all tranquil- lity of mind, I submit myself to your decision. And whether your judgment in my case — I wish it were not the case of you all — be for life or for death, it shall be righteous in my eyes, and shall be received with a Te Deum laudamus, we give God the praise. The House of Lords, after due deliberation, voted that the main facts alleged in the impeach- ment had been proved in evidence ; and referred the question whether they involved the crime of treason, to the decision of the judges of the Court of the King's Bench. Previous to this, howev- er, and even before the Earl had made his clos- ing argument, a new course of proceedings was adopted in the House of Commons. When the managers had finished their evidence and argu- ments as to the facts alleged, a bill of attainder against the Earl was brought into the House bv Sir Arthur Haselrig. The reason for this pro- cedure can not now be ascertained with any de- gree of certainty. The friends of Strafford have always maintained, that such an impression had been made on the minds of the judges and audi- ence during the progress of the trial, as to turn the tide in his favor ; and that his accusers, fear- ing he might be acquitted, resorted to this meas- ure for the purpose of securing his condemna- tion. Such may have been the fact ; but the Commons, in their conference with the Lords, April 15, declared that this was the course they had originally intended to pursue, " that the ev- idences of the fact being given, it was proposed from the beginning to go by way of bill, and that they had accordingly brought in a bill for his attainder." St. John, their legal manager, positively denied that they were seeking to avoid the judicial mode of proceeding ; and, " w T hat is stronger," as Hallam remarks, " the Lords voted on the articles judicially, and not as if they were enacting a legislative measure." Still the bill of attainder was strenuously opposed by a few individuals in the House, and especially by Lord Digby, in his celebrated speech on the subject, which will next be given. LORD DIGBY. George Digby, oldest son of the Earl of Bristol, was born at Madrid in 1G12, during the residence of his father in that city as English embassador to the Court of Spain. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford ; and entered into public life at the age of twenty-eight, being returned member of Parliament for the county of Dorset, in April, 1640. In common with his father, who had incurred the dis- pleasure of the King by his impeachment of Buckingham in 1G26, Lord Digby came forward at an early period of the session, as an open and determined enemy of the Court. Among the :; Speeches relative to Grievances." his, as representative of Dorsetshire, was one of the most bold and impassioned. His argument shortly after in favor of triennial Parliaments, was characterized by a still higher order of eloquence ; and in the course of it he made a bitter attack upon Strafford, in show- ing the necessity of frequent Parliaments as a control upon ministers, declaring " he must not expect to be pardoned in this world till he is dispatched to the other/' From the ardor with which he expressed these sentiments, and the leading part he took in every measure for the defense of the people's rights, Lord Digby was ap- pointed one of the managers for the impeachment of Strafford. Into this he en- tered, for a time, with the utmost zeal. He is described by Clarendon as a man of uncommon activity of mind and fertility of invention ; bold and impetuous in what- ever designs he undertook ; but deficient in judgment, inordinately vain and ambi- tious, of a volatile and unquiet spirit, disposed to separate councils, and governed more by impulse than by fixed principles. Whether the course he took in respect to the attainder of Strafford ought to be referred in any degree to the last-mentioned traits of character, or solely to a sense of justice, a conviction forced upon him in the progress of the trial that the testimony had failed to sustain the charge of treason, can not, perhaps, be decided at the present day. The internal evidence afforded by the speech, is strongly in favor of his honesty and rectitude of intention. He appears throughout like one who was conscious of having gone too far ; and who was de- termined to retrieve his error, at whatever expense of popular odium it might cost him. Had he stopped here, there would have been no ground for imputations on his character. But he almost instantly changed the whole tenor of his political life. He abandoned his former principles ; he joined the Court party ; and did more, as we learn from Clarendon, to ruin Charles by his rashness and pertinacity, than any other man. But, whatever may be thought of Digby, the speech is one of great manliness and force. It is plausible in its statements, just in its distinc- tions, and weighty in its reasonings. Without exhibiting any great superiority of genius, and especially any richness of imagination, it presents us with a rapid suc- cession of striking and appropriate thoughts, clearly arranged and vividly expressed In one respect, the diction is worthy of being studied. It abounds in those direct and pointed forms of speech, which sink at once into the heart ; and by their very plainness give an air of perfect sincerity to the speaker, which of all things is the most important to one who is contending (as he was) against the force of popular prejudic3. Much of the celebrity attached to this speech is owing, no doubt, to the circumstances under which it was delivered. The House of Commons must have presented a scene of the most exciting nature when, at the moment of taking the final vote on the bill, one of the managers of the impeachment came forward to abandon his ground ; to disclose the proceedings of the committee in secret session; and to denounce the condemnation of Strafford by a bill of attainder, as an act of murder. SPEECH OF LORD DIGBY ON THE BILL OF ATTAINDER AGAINST THE EARL OF STRAFFORD, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, APRIL 21, 1641. We are now upon the point of giving, as much as in us lies, the final sentence unto death or life, on a great minister of state and peer of this king- dom, Thomas, Earl of Strafford, a name of ha- tred in the present age for his practices, and fit to be made a terror to future ages by his punish- ment. I have had the honor to be employed by the House in this great business, from the first hour that it was taken into consideration. It was a matter of great trust ; and I will say with con- fidence that I have served the House in it, not only with industry, according to my ability, but with most exact faithfulness and justice. And as I have hitherto discharged my duty to this House and to my country in the progress of this great cause, so I trust I shall do now, in the last period of it, to God and to a good con- science. I do wish the peace of that to myself, and the blessing of Almighty God to me and my posterity, according as my judgment on the life of this man shall be consonant with my heart, and the best of my understanding in all integrity. I know well that by some things I have said of late, while this bill was in agitation, I have raised some prejudices against me in the cause. Yea, some (I thank them for their plain dealing) have been so free as to tell me, that I have suf- fered much by the backwardness I have shown in the bill of attainder of the Earl of Strafford, against whom I have formerly been so keen, so active. I beg of you, Mr. Speaker, and the rest, but a suspension of judgment concerning me, till I have opened my heart to you, clearly and freely, m this business. Truly, sir, I am still the same in my opinion and affections as to the Earl of Strafford. I confidently believe him to be the most dangerous minister, the most insupportable to free subjects, that can be charactered. I be- lieve his practices in themselves to have been as high and tyrannical as any subject ever ventured on ; and the malignity of them greatly aggrava- ted by those rare abilities of his, whereof God hath given him the use, but the devil the appli- cation. In a word, I believe him to be still that grand apostate to the Commonwealth, who must not expect to be pardoned in this w T orld till he be dispatched to the other. And yet let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, my hand must not be to that dispatch. I protest, as my conscience stands informed, I had rather it were off. Let me unfold to you the mystery, Mr. Speak- er : I will not dwell much upon justifying to you my seeming variance at this time from what I was formerly, by putting you in mind of the dif- ference between prosecutors and judges — how misbecoming that fervor would be in a judge which, perhaps, was commendable in a prose- cutor. Judges we are now, and must, therefore, put on another personage. It is honest and no- ble to be earnest in order to the discovery of truth ; but when that hath been brought so far as it can be to light, our judgment thereupon ought to be calm and cautious. In prosecution upon probable grounds, we are accountable only for our industry or remissness ; but in judgment, we are deeply responsible to Almighty God for its rectitude or obliquity. In cases of life, the judge is God's steward of the party's blood, and must give a strict account for every drop. But, as I told you, Mr. Speaker, I will not in- sist long upon this ground of difference in me now from what I was formerly. The truth of it is, sir, the same ground whereupon I with the rest of the few to whom you first committed the consideration of my Lord Strafford, brought down our opinion that it was fit he should be accused of treason — upon the same ground, I was en- gaged with earnestness in his prosecution ; and had the same ground remained in that force of belief in me, which till very lately it did, I should not have been tender in his condemnation. But truly, sir, to deal plainly with you, that ground of our accusation — that which should be the ba- sis of our judgment of the Earl of Strafford as to treason — is, to my understanding, quite vanished away. This it was, Mr. Speaker — his advising the King to employ the army in Ireland to reduce England. This I was assured would be proved, before I gave my consent to his accusation. I was confirmed in the same belief during the pros- ecution, and fortified most of all in it, after Sir Henry Vane's preparatory examination, by as- surances which that worthy member Mr. Pym gave me, that his testimony would be made con- vincing by some notes of what passed at the Junto [Privy Council] concurrent with it. This I ever understood would be of some other coun- selor; but you see now, it proves only to be a copy of the same secretary's notes, discovered and produced in the manner you have heard ; and those such disjointed fragments of the ven- omous part of discourses — no results, no conclu- sions of councils, which are the only things that secretaries should register, there being no use of the other but to accuse and bring men into danger. 1 See Strafford's reply on this subject, p. 12. 1641 ] LORD DIGBY AGAINST THE ATTAINDER OF STRAFFORD. it But. sir, this is not that which overthrows the evidence with me concerning the army in Ireland, nor yet that all the rest of the Junto remember nothing ofit ; but this, sir, which I shall tell you, is that which works with me, under favor, to an utter overthrow of his evidence as touching the army of Ireland. Before, while I was pros- ecutor, and under tie of secrecy, I might not dis- cover [disclose] any weakness of the cause, which now, as judge, I must. Mr. Secretary Vane was examined thrice upon oath at the preparatory committee. The first time he was questioned as to all the interrogato- ries ; and to that part of the seventh which con- cerns the army in Ireland, he said positively these words : "I can not charge him with that;' 1 but for the rest, he desired time to recollect himself, which was granted him. Some days after, he was examined a second time, and then deposed these words concerning the King's being absolv- ed from rules of government, and so forth, very clear] v. But being pressed as to that part con- cerning the Irish army, again he said he could say " nothing to that." Here we thought we had done with him, till divers weeks after, my Lord of Northumberland, and all others of the Junto, denying to have heard any thing concern- ing those words of reducing England by the Irish army, it was thought fit to examine the secretary once more ; and then he deposed these words to have been spoken by the Earl of Strafford to his Majesty : " You have an army in Ireland, which you may employ here to reduce (or some word to that sense) this kingdom." Mr. Speaker, these are the circumstances which I confess w T ith my conscience, thrust quite out of doors that grand article of our charge concerning his des- perate advice to the King of employing the Irish army here. Let not this, I beseech you, be driven to an aspersion upon Mr. Secretary, as if he should have sworn otherwise than he knew or believed. He is too worthy to do that. Only let this much be inferred from it, that he, who twice upon oath, with time of recollection, could not remember any- thing of such a business, might well, a third time, misremember somewhat ; and in this business the difference of one word "here" for "there," or "that" for "this," quite alters the case; the latter also being the more pi'obable, since it is confessed on all hands that the debate then was concerning a war with Scotland. And you may remember, that at the bar he once said " employ there?" And thus, Mr. Speaker, have I faithfully given you an account what it is that hath blunt- ed the edge of the hatchet, or bill, with me, to- ward my Lord Strafford. This was that whereupon I accused him with a free heart; prosecuted him with earnestness; and had it to my understanding been proved, should have condemned him with innocence ; whereas now I can not satisfy my conscience to do it. I profess I can have no notion of any body's intent to subvert the laws treasonably, but by force ; and this design of force not appearing, all his other wicked practices can not amount so B high with me. I can find a more easy and nat- ural spring from whence to derive all his other crimes, than from an intent to bring in tyranny, and make his own posterity, as well as us, slaves ; viz., from revenge, from pride, from passion, and from insolence of nature. But had this of the Irish army been proved, it would have diffused a complexion of treason over all. It would have been a withe indeed, to bind all those other scat- tered and lesser branches, as it were, into a fag- ot of treason. I do not say but the rest of the things charged may represent him a man as worthy to die, and perhaps worthier than many a traitor. I do not say but they may justly direct us to enact that they shall be treason for the future. But God keep me from giving judgment of death on any man, and of ruin to his innocent posteritv, upon a law made a posteriori. Let the mark be set on the door where the plague is, and then let him that will enter, die. 2 I know, Mr. Speaker, there is in Parliament a double power of life and death by bill ; a ju- dicial power, and a legislative. The measure of the one is, what is legally just; of the other, what is prudentially and politically fit for the good and preservation of the whole. But these two, under favor, are not to be confounded in judgment. We must not piece out want of le- gality with matter of convenience, nor the de- failance of prudential fitness with a pretense of legal justice. To condemn my Lord of Strafford judicially, as for treason, my conscience is not assured that the matter will bear it ; and to do it by the leg- islative power, my reason consultively can not agree to that, since I am persuaded that neither the Lords nor the King will pass this bill ; and, consequently, that our passing it will be a cause of great divisions, and contentions in the state. Therefore my humble advice is, that, laying aside this bill of attainder, we may think of an- other, saving only life; such as may secure the state from my Lord of Strafford, without endan- gering it as much by division concerning his punishment, as he hath endangered it by his practices. If this may not be hearkened unto, let me conclude in saying that to you all, which I have thoroughly inculcated upon mine own con- science, on this occasion. Let every man lay his hand upon his own heart, and seriously con- sider what we arc going to do with a breath : either justice or murder — justice on the one side, or murder, heightened and aggravated to its su- premest extent, on the other ! For, as the cas- uists say, He who lies with his sister commits in- cest ; but he that marries his sister, sins higher, by applying God's ordinance to his crime ; so. doubt- less, he that commits murder with the sword of justice, heightens that crime to the utmost. • 2 This image was peculiarly appropriate and for- cible at that time, when the plague had recently prevailed in London, and a mark was placed by the magistrates on infected dwellings as a warning not to enter. 18 LORD DIGBY AGAINST THE ATTAINDER OF STRAFFORD. [1641. The danger being so great, and the case so doubtful, that I see the best lawyers in diamet- rical opposition concerning it ; let every man wipe his heart as he does his eyes, when he would judge of a nice and subtle object. The eye. if it be pre-tinctured with any color, is vi- tiated in its discerning. Let us take heed of a blood-shotten eye in judgment. Let every man purge his heart clear of all passions. I know this great and wise body politic can have none ; but I speak to individuals from the weakness which I find in myself. Away with personal animosities ! Away with all flatteries to the people, in being the sharper against him because he is odious to them ! Away with all fears, lest by sparing his blood they may be incensed ! Away with all such considerations, as that it is not fit for a Parliament that one accused by it of treason, should escape with life ! Let not for- mer vehemence of any against him, nor fear from thence that he can not be safe while that man lives, be an ingredient in the sentence of any one of us. Of all these corruptives of judgment, Mr. Speaker, I do, before God, discharge myself to the utmost of my power ; and do now, with a clear conscience, wash my hands of this man's blood by this solemn protestation, that my vote goes not to the taking of the Earl of Straff or oV s life. Notwithstanding this eloquent appeal, the bill of attainder was carried the same day in the House, by a vote of two hundred and four to fifty- nine. The Lords had already decided in their ju- dicial capacity that the ma.m facts alleged in the indictment were proved, and referred the points of law to the decision of the judges of the Court of the King's Bench. On the seventh of May, " the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench de- livered in to the Lords the unanimous decision of all the judges present, ' That they are of opin- ion upon all which their Lordships had voted to be proved, that the Earl of Strafford doth deserve to undergo the pains and forfeitures of high treason by law.' " — Pari. Hist., vol. ii., p. 757. The Lords now yielded the point of form to the Commons ; and as the penal consequences were the same, instead of giving sentence under the impeachment, they passed the bill of attainder the next day, May 8th, by a vote of twenty-six to nineteen. It was still in the power of Charles to save Strafford by refusing his assent to the bill ; and he had made a solemn and written promise to de- liver him from his enemies in the last extremity, by the exercise of the royal prerogative. Bat, with his constitutional fickleness, he yielded ; and then, to pacify his conscience, he sent a let- ter to the Lords asking the consent of Parlia- ment, that he might ''moderate the severity of the law in so important a case." Still, with that weakness, amounting to fatuity, which so often marked his conduct, he nullified his own request by that celebrated postscript, " If he must die, it were charity to reprieve him till Saturday !" As might have been expected, the Earl was executed the next day, May 12th, 1641. The House of Commons, however, with a generosity never manifested before or since in such a case, immediately passed a bill to relieve his descendants from the penalties of forfeiture and corruption of blood. It is now generally admitted that, in a moral point of view, Strafford richly merited the pun- ishment he received. On the question of legal right, it may be proper to say, that while the doctrine of constructive treason under an im- peachment can not be too strongly condemned, the proceedings under a bill of attainder were of a different nature. "Acts of Parliament," says Blackstone, " to attaint particular persons of treason, are to all intents and purposes new laws made pro re nata, and by no means an ex- ecution of such as are already in being." They are, from their very nature, ex post facto laws. They proceed on the principle that while judicial courts are to be governed by the strict letter of the law, as previously known and established, Parliament, in exercising the high sovereignty of the state, may, " on great and crying occa- sions," arrest some enormous offender in the midst of his crimes, and inflict upon him the punishment he so richly deserves, even in cases where, owing to a defect in the law, or to the arts of successful evasion, it is impossible to reach him by means of impeachment, or through the ordinary tribunals of justice. Such a power is obviously liable to great abuses ; and it is, therefore, expressly interdicted to Congress in the Constitution of the United States. But it has always belonged, and still belongs, to the Parliament, of Great Britain, though for many years it has ceased to be exercised in this form. The principle of retrospective punishment (the only thing really objectionable in this case) has, indeed, come clown in a milder form to a very late period of English history. We find it in those bills of "pains and penalties," which, as Hallam observes, " have, in times of compara- tive moderation and tranquillity, been sometimes thought necessary to visit some unforeseen and anomalous transgression, beyond the reach of our penal code." Mr. Macaulay maintains that the Earl's death, under existing circumstances, was absolutely necessary ; " that, during the civil wars, the Parliament had reason to rejoice that an irreversible law and an impassable barrier protected them from the valor and rapacity of Strafford." Those who think differently on this point must at least agree with Hallam, that "he died justly before God and man ; though we may deem the precedent dangerous, and the better course of a magnanimous lenity rejected ; and in condemning the bill of attainder, we can not look upon it as a crime" LORD BELHAVEN. The author of this speech belonged to the Hamilton family. He was one of the old Presbyterian lords, of high education, especially in classical literature ; lofty in his demeanor ; dauntless in spirit ; and wholly devoted to the peculiar interests of his country. The speech owes much of its celebrity to the circumstances under which it was delivered. It embodies the feelings of a proud and jealous people, when called upon to surrender their national independence, and submit to the authority of the British Parliament. A century had now elapsed since the union of the English and Scottish crowns in the person of James L, and Scotland still remained a distinct kingdom, with its own Parliament, its own judicial system, its own immemorial usages which had all the force of law. This state of things, though gratifying to the pride of the Scot- tish people, was the source of endless jealousies and contentions between the two countries ; and, as commonly happens in such cases, the weaker party suffered most. Scotland was governed by alternate corruption and force. Her nobility and gentry were drawn to England in great numbers by the attractions of the Court, as the seat of fashion, honor, and power. The nation was thus drained of her wealth ; and the drain became greater, as her merchants and tradesmen were led to transfer their capital to the sister kingdom, in consequence of the superior facilities for trade which were there enjoyed. It was now apparent that Scotland could never nourish until she was permitted to share in those commercial advantages, from which she was debarred as a distinct country, by the Navigation Act of England. The Scotch were, therefore, clamor- ous in their demands for some arrangement to this effect. But the English had always looked with jealousy upon any intermeddling with trade, on the part of Scot- land. They had crashed her African and India Company by their selfish opposition, and had left her Darien settlement of twelve hundred souls to perish for want of support and protection ; so that few families in the Lowlands had escaped the loss of a relative or friend. Exasperated by these injuries, and by the evident determin- ation of the English to cut them off from all participation in the benefits of trade, the Scotch were hurried into a measure of alarming aspect for the safety of the em- pire. Noble and burgher, Jacobite and Presbyterian, were for once united. There was one point where England was vulnerable. It was the succession to the crown. This had been settled by the English Parliament on the Protestant line in the house of Hanover, and the fullest expectations were entertained that the Parliament of Scotland would readily unite in the same measure. Instead of this, the Scotch, in 1701, passed their famous Act of Security, in which they threw down the gauntlet to England, and enacted, that " the same person should be incajmble of succeeding in both kingdoms, unless a free communication of trade, the benefits of the Naviga- tion Act, and liberty of the Plantations [i. e., of trading with the British West In- dies and North America] was first obtained." They also provided conditionally for a separate successor, and passed laws for arming the whole kingdom in his defense. It was now obvious that concessions must be made on both sides, or the contest be decided by the sword. The ministry of Glueen Anne, therefore, proposed that commissioners from the two kingdoms should meet at London, to devise a plan of 20 LORD BELHAVEN. Union, which should be mutually advantageous to the two countries. This was accordingly done, in the month of April, 1706 ; and, after long negotiations, it was agreed, that the two kingdoms should be united into one under the British Parlia- ment, with the addition of sixteen Scottish peers to the House of Lords, and of forty-five Scottish members to the House of Commons ; that the Scotch should be entitled to all the privileges of the English in respect to trade, and be subject to the same excise and duties; that Scotland should receive £398,000 as a compen- sation or " equivalent" for the share of liability she assumed in the English debt of £20,000,000 ; and that the churches of England and Scotland respectively should be confirmed in all their rights and privileges, as a fundamental condition of the Union. These arrangements were kept secret until October, 1706, when the Scottish Parliament met to consider and decide on the plan proposed. The moment the Articles were read in that body, and given to the public in print, they were met with a burst of indignant reprobation from every quarter. A federal union which should confer equal advantages for trade, was all that the Scotch in general had ever contemplated : an incorporating union, which should abolish their Parliament and extinguish their national existence, was what most Scotchmen had never dreamed of. Xor is it surprising, aside from all considerations of national honor, that such a union should have been regarded with jealousy and dread. " Xo past experience of history." says Hallam, " was favorable to the absorption of a lesser state (at least where the government partook so much of a republican form) in one of superior power and ancient rivalry. The representation of Scotland in the united Legislature, was too feeble to give any thing like security against the English prej- udices and animosities, if they should continue or revive. The Church of Scotland was exposed to the most apparent perils, brought thus within the power of a Legis- lature so frequently influenced by one which held her, not as a sister, but rather as a bastard usurper of a sister's inheritance ; and though her permanence was guar- anteed by the treaty, yet it was hard to say how far the legal competence of Par- liament might hereafter be deemed to extend, or, at least, how far she might be abridged of her privileges and impaired in her dignity." It was with sentiments like these that, when the first article of the treaty was read, Lord Belhaven arose, and addressed the Parliament of Scotland in the follow- ing speech. It is obviously reported in a very imperfect manner, and was designed merely to open the discussion which was expected to follow, and not to enter at large into the argument. It Avas a simple burst of feeling, in which the great leader of the country party, who was equally distinguished for "the mighty sway of his tal- ents and the resoluteness of his temper," poured out his emotions in view of that act of parricide, as he considered it, to which the Parliament was now called. He felt that no regard to consequences, no loss or advancement of trade, manufactures, or national wealth, ought to have the weight of a feather, when the honor and ex- istence of his country were at stake. He felt that Scotland, if only united, was abundantly able to work out her own salvation. These two thoughts, therefore — national honor, and national UNION — constitute the burden of his speech. SPEECH OF LORD BELHAYEN AGAINST THE LEGISLATIVE UNION OF ENGLAND AND ERED LN THE PARLIAMENT OF SCOTLAND. NOV. 2, 1706. •COTLAND, DELIV- Mt Lord Chancellor. — When I consider the affair of a union betwixt the two nations, as expressed in the several articles thereof, and mow the subject of our deliberation at this time. I find my mind crowded with a variety of mel- ancholy thoughts ; and I think it my duty to dis- burden myself of some of them by laying them before, and exposing them to the serious con- sideration of this honorable House. I think I see a free and independent kingdom delivering up that which all the world hath been fighting for since the days of Nimrod ; yea. that for which most of all the empires, kingdoms, states, principalities, and dukedoms of Europe, are at this time engaged in the most bloody and cniel wars : to wit. a poiccr to manage their oicn affairs by themselves, without the assistance and counsel of any other. I think I see a national church, founded upon a rock, secured by a claim of right, hedged and fenced about by the strictest and most pointed legal sanctions that sovereignty could contrive, voluntarily descending into a plain, upon an equal level with Jews. Papists, Socinians, Ar- minians. Anabaptists, and other sectaries. I think I see the noble and honorable peerage of Scotland, whose valiant predecessors led ar- mies against their enemies upon their own prop- er charges and expense, now devested of their followers and vassalages ; and put upon such an equal foot with their vassals, that I think I see a petty English exciseman receive more hom- age and respect than what was paid formerly to their quondam Mackalamores. I think I see the present peers of Scotland, whose noble ancestors conquered provinces, overran countries, reduced and subjected towns and fortified places, exacted tribute through the greatest part of England, now walking in the Court of Requests, like so many Eno-lish attor- neys ; laying aside their walking - in company with the Engli>h peers, lest their self-defense should be found murder. I think I see the honorable estate of barons, the bold assertors of the nation's rights and lib- erties in the worst of times, now setting a watch upon their lips, and a guard upon their tongues. lest they may be found guilty of scandalum mag- na'um. a speaking evil of dinni: I think I see the royal state of burjiho rs inir their desolate - ts ging vn their heads under disappointment*, wormed out of all the branches of their old trade, uncertain what hand to turn to. necessitated to become pren- i their unkind n< ■'_ all, finding their u and secured by prescriptions, that they despair of any success therein. I think I see our learned judges laying aside their pratiques and decisions, studying the com- mon law of England, graveled with certioraris. nisi priuses, writs of error, verdicts, injunctions, demurs, &c.. and frightened with appea avocations, because of the new regulations and rectifications they may meet with. I think I see the valiant and gallant soldiery either sent to learn the plantation trade abroad. or at home petitioning for a small subsistence. as a reward of their honorable exploits : while their old corps are broken, the common soldiers left to beg, and the youngest English corps kept standing. I think I see the honest industrious tradesman loaded with new taxes and impositions, disap- pointed of the equivalents. 1 drinking water in place of ale. eating his saltless pottage, petition- ing for encouragement to his manufactures, and answered by counter petitions. In short. I think I see the laborious plow- man, with his corn spoiling upon his bai want of sale, cursing the day of his birth, dread- ing the expense of his burial, and tu whether to many or do worse. I think I see the incurable difficulties landed men. fettered under the golden chain of "equivalents."" their pretty daughters petition- ing for want of husbands, and their sons for want of employment. I think I see our mariners delivering up their ships to their Dutch partners ; and what through sa s and necessity, earning their bread derlings in the royal English navy ! But above all, my Lord. I think I see our an- cient mother. Caledonia, like Cesar, sitting in the midst of our Senate, ruefully lookin_- about her. covering herself with her ro;. ment, attending the fatal blow, and br out her last with an ct tu qttoque mi n 1 The " equivalent," or compensation, of £ spoken of above, was to be distributed, a er tion of it, to the shareholders of the AJ dia Company, who had suffered to severel; . up of the Darien settlement. As t! must, in many instances, have changed ban • inequality and disappointment v in the distribution of this money ; which was like- ly, in meal sea, to _ T ointo the hands of the friends mment, as a on this occasion. 2 The actual exclamation of C - ! Stated by Suetonius, was in Greek. also, my child? The Latin version was Qi . le at the time, by those who ^ LORD BELHAVEN AGAINST THE [1706. Are not these, my Lord, very afflicting thoughts ? And yet they are but the least part suggested to me by these dishonorable articles. Should not the consideration of these things viv- ify these dry bones of ours ? Should not the memory of our noble predecessors' valor and constancy rouse up our drooping spirits ? Are our noble predecessors' souls got so far into the English cabbage stalk and cauliflowers, that we should show the least inclination that way ? Are our eyes so blinded, are our ears so deafen- ed, are our hearts so hardened, are our tongues so faltered, are our hands so fettered, that in this our day — I say, my Lord, in this our day — we should not mind the things that concern the very being, and well-being of our ancient king- dom, before the day be hid from our eyes ? No, my Lord, God forbid ! Man's extremity is God's opportunity : he is a present help in time of need — a deliverer, and that right early ! Some unforeseen providence will fall out, that may cast the balance •, some Joseph or other will say, " Why do ye strive together, since ye are brethren ?" None can destroy Scotland save Scotland's self. Hold your hands from the pen, and you are secure ! There will be a Jehovah- Jireh : and some ram will be caught in the thicket, when the bloody knife is at our mother's throat. Let us, then, my Lord, and let our no- ble patriots behave themselves like men, and we know not how soon a blessing may come. I design not at this time to enter into the merits of any one particular article. I intend this discourse as an introduction to what I may afterward say upon the whole debate, as it falls in before this honorable House ; and therefore, in the further prosecution of what I have to say, I shall insist upon a few particulars, very neces- sary to be understood before we enter into the detail of so important a matter. I shall therefore, in the first place, endeavor to encourage a free and full deliberation, with- out animosities and heats. In the next place, I shall endeavor to make an inquiry into the na- ture and source of the unnatural and dangerous divisions that are now on foot within this isle, with some motives showing that it is our inter- est to lay them aside at this time. And all this with all deference, and under the correction of this honorable House. My Lord Chancellor, the greatest honor that was done unto a Roman, was to allow him the glory of a triumph; the greatest and most dis- honorable punishment was that of parricide. He that was guilty of parricide was beaten with rods upon his naked body, till the blood gushed out of all the veins of his body ; then he was sewed up in a leathern sack called a culeus, with a cock, a viper, and an ape, and thrown headlong into the sea. My Lord, patricide is a greater crime than parricide, all the world over. In a triumph, my Lord, when the conqueror words. By many at the present day, " Et tu Bru- te," has been given as the expression ; but for this, it is believed, there is no classical authority. was riding in his triumphal chariot, crowned with laurels, adorned with trophies, and ap- plauded with huzzas, there was a monitor ap- pointed to stand behind him, to warn him not to be high-minded, nor puffed up with overween^ ing thoughts of himself; and to his chariot wer§ tied a whip and a bell, to remind him that, not> withstanding all his glory and grandeur, he was accountable to the people for his administration, and would be punished as other men, if found guilty. The greatest honor among us, my Lord, is to represent the sovereign's sacred person [as High Commissioner] in Parliament ; and in one par- ticular it appears to be greater than that of a triumph, because the whole legislative power seems to be intrusted with him. If he give the royal assent to an act of the estates, it becomes a law obligatory upon the subject, though con- trary to or without any instructions from the sovereign. If he refuse the royal assent to a vote in Parliament, it can not be a law, though he has the sovereign's particular and positive instructions for it. His Grace the Duke of Queensbury, who now represents her Majesty in this session of Parlia- ment, hath had the honor of that great trust as often, if not more, than any Scotchman ever had. He hath been the favorite of two successive sovereigns ; and I can not but commend his con- stancy and perseverance, that, notwithstanding his former difficulties and unsuccessful attempts, and maugre some other specialities not yet de- termined, his Grace has yet had the resolution to undertake the most unpopular measure last. If his Grace succeed in this affair of a union, and that it prove for the happiness and welfare of the nation, then he justly merits to have a statue of gold erected for himself; but if it shall tend to the entire destruction and abolition of our na- tion, and that we, the nation's trustees, shall go into it, then I must say, that a whip and a bell, a cock, a viper, and an ape, are but too small punishments for any such bold, unnatural under- taking and complaisance. 3 I. That I may pave the way, my Lord, to a full, calm, and free reasoning upon this affair, which is of the last consequence unto this na- tion, I shall mind this honorable House, that we are the successors of those noble ancestors who founded our monarchy, framed our laws, amend- ed, altered, and corrected them from time to 3 The High-Commissioner Queensbury, though by birth a Scotchman, had by long employment in the service of the Court, lost all regard for the distinctive interests and honor of his native country. He was conciliating in his manners, cool, enterprising, and resolute, expert in all the arts and intrigues of poli- tics, and lavish of the public money for the accom- plishment of his purposes. He had been the agent of the Court for attempting many unpopular meas- ures in the Scottish Parliament ; and he had now " the resolution to undertake the most unpopular measure last." He was generally hated and sus- pected as a renegade ; and hence the bitterness with which he is here assailed, as seeking "the en- tire destruction and abolition of the nation." 1706." 3LATI7E UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 23 time, as the affairs and circumstances of the na- tion did require, without the assistance or ad- vice of any foreign power or potentate : and who. during the time of two thousand y have handed them down to us. a free, independ- ent nation, with the hazard of their lives and fortunes. Shall not we. then, argue for that which our progenitors have purchased lor us at so dear a rate, and with so much immortal honor and glory ? God forbid. Shall the hazard of a father unbind the ligaments of a dumb son's tongue, and shall we hold our peace when our p atria, our country, is in danger ? 4 I say this. my Lord, that -I may encourage every individ- ual member of this House to speak his mind freely. There are many wise and prudent men among us, who think it not worth their while to open their mouths : there are others, who can speak very well, and to good purpose, who shel- ter themselves under the shameful cloak of si- lence from a fear of the frowns of great men and parties. I have observed, my Lord, by my ex- perience, the greatest number of speakers in the most trivial affairs ; and it will always prove rhfle we come not to the right understand- ing of the oath de fideli, wherebv we are bound not only to give our vote, but our faithful ad- vice in Parliament, as we should answer to God. And in our ancient laws, the representatives oi the honorable barons and the royal boroughs arc termed "spokesmen." It lies upon your Lord- ships, therefore, particularly to take notice of such, whose modesty makes them bashful to speak. Therefore I shall leave it upon yon. and conclude this point with a very memorable say- ing of an honest private gentleman to a great Queen, upon occasion of a state project, con- trived by an able statesman, and the favorite to a great King, against a peaceful, obedient peo- ple, because of the diversity of their laws and ■utions : "If at this time thou hold thy peace, salvation shall come to the people from another place : but thou and thy house shall per- I leave the application to each particu- lar member of this House. 5 * Allusion is here made to the story of Cr: and bis dumb child, as related by Herodotus. At the storming- of Sardis, a Persian soldier, thr _ ignorance of the King's person, was about t: Croesus -. when his dumb son, ucder the impulse of astonishment and terror, broke silence, and exclaim- ed, " Oh man. do not kill my father Croesus !" There was evidently in the mind of the speaker, and per- haps in the language actually employed, a play on the words pater, father, and patria. country, which gave still greater force to the allusion. 5 An appeal is here made, not merely to those members of Parliament who were at first awed into ■flence by the authority of the Court, but to the Squadrone Volante. or Flying Squadron, a | headed by the Marquess of Tweddale, who held the balance of power, and were accustomed to throw themselves, during the progress of a debate, on that side where tbey could gain most. This party had thus far maintained a cautious silence ; and the ject of Lord Belhaven was to urge them, under the pressure of a general and indignant public i ment, to declare themselves at once on the popular I II. My Lord. I come now to consider our di- visions. We are under the happy reign. be God, of the best of queens, who has no evil design against the meanest of her subjects ; who loves all her people, and is equally beloved by them again : and yet, that under the happy influence of our most excellent Queen, there should be such divisions and factions, more dan- gerous and threatening to her dominions than if we were under an arbitrary government, is most strange and unaccountable. Under an arbitrary prince all are willing to serve, because all are under a necessity to obey, whether they will or not. He chooses, therefore, whom he will, with- out respect to either parties or factions ; and if he think fit to take the advice of his councils or Parliaments, every man speaks his mind freely, and the prince receives the faithful advice of his people, without the mixture of self-designs. If he prove a good prince, the government . - if bad. either death or a revolution brings a deliv- erance : whereas here, my Lord, there appears no end of our miserv. if not prevented in time. Factions are now become independent, and have got footing in councils, in Parliaments, in treaties, in armies, in incorporations, in families, among kindred j yea, man and wife are not free from their political jars. It remains, therefore, my Lord, that I inquire into the nature of these things ; and since the names give us not the right idea of the thing. I am afraid I shall have difficulty to make myself well understood. The names generally used to denote the fac- tions are Whig and Tory : as obscure as that of Guelfs and Ghibellines ; yea. my Lord, they have different significations, as they are applied to fac- tions in each kingdom. A Whig in England is a heterogeneous creature : in Scotland he is all of a piece. A Tory in England is all of a piece, and a statesman : in Scotland he is quite other- wise : an anti-courtier and anti-statesman. A Whig in England appears to be somewhat like Nebuchadnezzar's image, of different met- als, different classes, different principles, t ferent desig:.- re them altogether, they are like a piece of some mixed drugget of dif- ferent threads; some finer, some coarser, which, after all, make a comely appearance and an agreeable suit. Tory is like a piece of loyal home-made English cloth, the true staple of the nation, all of a thread : yet if we look narrowiy into it, we shall perceive a diversity of colors, which, according to the various situations and positions, make various appearances. Some- time* Tory is like the moon in its full : as ap- peared in the affair of the Bill of Occasional Con- formity. Epon other occasions, it appears to be under a cloud, and as if it were eclipsed by a greater body ; as it did in the design of calling over the illustrious Princess Sophia. However, by this we may see their designs are to out- shoot Whig in his own bow. side, before the influence of the Court had time to operate through patronage or bribery. 24 LORD BELHAVEN AGAINST THE [1706. Whig, in Scotland, is a true blue Presbyterian, who, without considering time or power, will venture his all for the Kirk, but something less for the State. The greatest difficulty is how to describe a Scots Tory. Of old, when I knew them first, Tory was an honest-hearted, com- radish fellow, who, provided he was maintained and protected in his benefices, titles, and dig- nities by the State, was the less anxious who had the government of the Church. But now, what he is since jure divino came in fashion, and that Christianity, and by consequence salvation, comes to depend upon episcopal ordination, I profess I know not what to make of him; only this I must say for him, that he endeavors to do by opposition that which his brother in England endeavors by a more prudent and less scrupulous method. 6 Now, my Lord, from these divisions there has got up a kind of aristocracy, something like the famous triumvirate at Rome. They are a kind of undertakers and pragmatic statesmen, who, finding their power and strength great, and answerable to their designs, will make bar- gains with our gracious sovereign ; they will serve her faithfully, but upon their own terms ; they must have their own instruments, their own measures. This man must be turned out, and e A few words of explanation will make this de- scription clearer. The English Whigs effected the Revolution of 1688 by combining various interests again&fc James II., and in favor of King William. Hence ,the party was composed of discordant ma- terials^ and Belhaven therefore describes it as a "mixed drugget of different threads," although, as a Scotch Presbyterian, he would naturally consider it as adapted to make "a comely appearance and an agreeable suit," from its Low-Church character, and its support of the Protestant succession. The English Tories were " the true staple of the nation," being chiefly the old and wealthy families of the Es- tablishment, holding to High-Church principles and the divine right of kings. They gained the ascend- ency on the accession of dueen Anne to the throne, and were thus "like the moon in its full." They showed their sense of this ascendency, and their de- termination to maintain it, by the Bill of Occasional Conformity, which excluded from office all persons who had attended a dissenting place of worship. Afterward they changed their policy, and sought favor with the Hanover family, by a proposal for " calling over the Princess Sophia," who was the next successor to the crown. This gave great of- fense to Queen Anne, so that now they were under a cloud, and as it were eclipsed. This courting of the Hanover family (which had hitherto been sup- ported by the Whigs alone) showed the English Tory to be " a statesman," or statemonger, bent on having power from supporting the state. A Scotch Tory, on the contrary, was a Jacobite, an "anti- courtier and anti-statesman," opposed to the very existence of the new government; while a Scotch Whig was a true blue Presbyterian, resolving his entire politics into the advancement of his Kirk and his country. The object of this satire on parties was to create a national spirit among the Scotch, which should put an end to their factions, and unite them all in maintaining their country's independ- ence. that man put in, and then they will make her the most glorious queen in Europe. Where will this end, my Lord ? Is not her Majesty in danger by such a method ? Is not the monarchy in danger? Is not the nation's peace and tranquillity in danger ? Will a change of parties make the nation more happy ? No, my Lord. The seed is sown that is like to af- ford us a perpetual increase. It is not an annual herb, it takes deep root ; it seeds and breeds ; and if not timely prevented by her Majesty's royal endeavors, will split the whole island in two. III. My Lord, I think, considering our pres- ent circumstances at this time, the Almighty God has reserved this great work for us. We may bruise this hydra of division, and crush this cockatrice's egg. Our neighbors in England are not yet fitted for any such thing; they are not under the afflicting hand of Providence, as we are. Their circumstances are great and glorious ; their treaties are prudently managed, both at home and abroad ; their generals brave and valorous, their armies successful and victo- rious ; their trophies and laurels memorable and surprising ; their enemies subdued and routed, their strongholds besieged and taken. Sieges relieved, marshals killed and taken prisoners, provinces and kingdoms are the results of their victories. Their royal navy is the terror of Europe ; their trade and commerce extended through the universe, encircling the whole hab- itable world, and rendering their own capital city the emporium for the whole inhabitants of the earth. 7 And which is yet more than all these things, the subjects freely bestowing their treasure upon their sovereign ; and above all, these vast riches, the sinews of war, and with- out which all the glorious success had proved abortive, these treasures are managed with such faithfulness and nicety, that they answer season- ably all their demands, though at never so great a distance. Upon these considerations, my Lord, how hard and difficult a thing will it prove to persuade our neighbors to a self-denying bill. 'Tis quite otherwise with us, my Lord, as we are an obscure poor people, though formerly of better account, removed to a distant corner of the world, without name, and without alliances ; our posts mean and precarious ; so that I pro- fess I don't think any one post in the kingdom worth the briguing [seeking] after, save that of being commissioner to a long session of a fac- tious Scots Parliament, with an antedated com- mission, and that yet renders the rest of the min- isters more miserable. 8 What hinders us then, 7 The battle of Blenheim and other victories of Marlborough had recently taken place, and had raised England to the height of her military re- nown, while her naval superiority had been recent- ly established by equally decisive victories at sea. 8 By an act passed near the close of King Will- iam's reign, the duration of the existing Scottish Parliament was to be prolonged for the period of six months after his death. But it did not actually meet, on the accession of dueen Anne, until the end 1706.] LEGISLATIVE UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 25 rav Lord, to lay aside our divisions, to unite cor- dially and heartily together in our present cir- cumstances, when our all is at stake. Hanni- bal, my Lord, is at our gates — Hannibal is come within our gates — Hannibal is come the length of this table — he is at the foot of the throne. He will demolish the throne, if we take not no- tice. He will seize upon these regalia. He will take them as our spolia opima, 9 and whip us out of this house, never to return again. For the love of God, then, my Lord, for the safety and welfare of our ancient kingdom, whose sad circumstances I hope we shall yet convert into prosperity and happiness ! "We want no means if we unite. God blessed the peace- makers. We want neither men, nor sufficiency of all manner of things necessary to make a na- tion happy. All depends upon management. Concordia res parvce crescunt — small means in- crease by concord. I fear not these Articles, though they were ten times worse than they are. if we once cordially forgive one another, and that according to our proverb, Bygones be bygones, and fair play for time to come. For my part, in the sight of God, and in the presence of this honorable House, I heartily forgive every man. and beg that they may do the same to me. And I do most humbly propose that his Grace my Lord Commis>ioner may appoint an Agape, may order a Love-feast for this honorable House, that we may lay aside all self-designs, and after our fasts and humiliations, may have a day of re- joicing and thankfulness ; may eat our meat with gladness, and our bread with a merry heart. Then shall we sit each man under his own fig- tree, and the voice of the turtle shall be heard in our land, a bird famous for constancy and fidelity. My Lord, I shall pause here, and proceed no further in my discourse, till I see if his Grace my Lord Commissioner [Queensburv] will receive any humble proposals for removing misunder- standings among us, and putting an end to our fatal divisions. Upon my honor, I have no other of nine months. Hence the legality of its assem- bling was denied by the Duke of Hamilton the mo- ment it convened; and he. with eighty other mem- bers, withdrew before it was constituted. Queens- bury, however, proceeded, as High Commissioner, to iliament. This, undoubtedly, is the trans- action here alluded to. The commission under which he acted was dated back, probably, within the six months prescribed ; and hence the sneer about ,; an antedated commission." Violent auimosities were created by this procedure. 9 The spolia opima, or " richest spoils*' of war among the Romans, consisted, according to Livy, of the armor and trappings which a supreme com- mander had stripped, on the field of battle, from the leader of the foe. Plutarch says that, down to his time, only three examples of this kind had occurred in Roman history. The image is. therefore, a very striking one. representing Scotland as prostrate, and Stripped of her regalia objects of almost sunersti- neration to the fadeb would be England as her tpolia opima, to grace her triumph. design ; and I am content to beg the favor upon my bended knees. 10 No answer. My Lord Chancellor, I am sorry that I must pursue the thread of my sad and melancholv story. What remains is more afflictive than what I have already said. Allow me. then, to make this meditation — that if our posterity, after we are all dead and gone, shall find themselves under an ill-made bargain, and shall have re- course to our records for the names of the man- agers who made that treaty by which they have suffered so much, they will certainly exclaim, " Our nation must have been reduced to the last extremity at the time of this treaty ! All our great chieftains, all our noble peers, who once defended the rights and liberties of the nation, must have been killed, and lying dead on the bed of honor, before the nation could ever condescend to such mean and contemptible terms ! Where were the great men of the noble families — the Stewarts. Hamiltons, Grahams. Campbells. John- stons. Murrays, Homes. Kers '? Where were the two great officers of the Crown, the Consta- ble and the Marischal of Scotland ? Certainly all were extinguished, and now we are slaves for- ever .'" But the English records — how will they make their posterity reverence the names of those illus- trious men who made that treaty, and forever brought under those fierce, warlike, and trouble- some neighbors who had struggled so long for independency, shed the best blood of their nation, and reduced a considerable part of their coun- try to become waste and desolate ! I see the English Constitution remaining firm — the same two houses of Parliament ; the same taxes, customs, and excise : the same trade in companies ; the same municipal laws ; while all ours are either subjected to new regulations, or annihilated forever ! And for what ? Only that we may have the honor to pay their old debts ; and may have some few persons present [in Par- liament] as witnesses to the validity of the deed, when they are pleased to contract more ! Good God ! What ? Is this an entire sur- render ? My Lord. I find my heart so full of grief and indignation, that I must beg pardon not to finish the last part of my discourse ; but pause that I may drop a tear as the prelude to so sad a story ! This fervent appeal had no effect. The Treaty of Union was ratified by a majority of thirty-three out of two hundred and one mem- bers. That it was carried by bribery matter of history. Documents have been _ I to light, showing that the sum sent to Queensburv for this purpose by I glish ministers : and the nam. - i whom the money was paid, belonging chiefly to the Sqaadrone, are given in full. 10 Lord Brougham, it S was not without precedent, wl adoption of the Reform Bill. 26 LORD BELHAVEN AGAINST THE UNION, ETC. [1706. The fate of Belhaven was a melancholy one. He submitted quietly to what he considered the ruin and dishonor of his country. Two years after, a French fleet, with the Pretender on board, appeared off the coast of Scotland, and menaced an invasion of the country. The gov- ernment was thrown into the utmost disorder : and though the fleet withdrew without venturing on the proposed descent, numerous arrests were made of suspected persons. Among these were Belhaven and others who had opposed the Union. Without a particle of proof against him, he was dragged to London. At the end of some weeks, however, he was released ; but expired almost immediately after, of grief and indignation at this unworthy treatment. 11 The evils anticipated by Lord Belhaven, and depicted in such glowing colors, never actually occurred. Nor were the benefits of the Union so immediate or great as were anticipated by its friends. The nation remained for a long time in an angry and mutinous state. Two rebellions Laing, iv. ; 375. took place in behalf of the Stuart family, one in 1715, and the other in 1745. It became at length apparent that the worst evils of Scotland arose from her system of clanship ; which divid- ed most of the country, especially the Highlands, into numerous small sovereignties, with the right of "pit and gallo\vs, : ' or imprisonment and death, under the name of " heritable jurisdic- tions." The course of justice was thus effectu- ally impeded ; and a large part of Scotland was kept in a state of perpetual disorder by the jeal- ousies and contentions of rival clans. Imme- diately after the rebellion of 1745, the right of "heritable jurisdiction" was abolished by an act of Parliament, and the whole kingdom brought under the control of the same courts. " From the time that this act came into full operation," says Lord Campbell, "and not from the Union, commences the prosperity of Scotland ; which having been the idlest, poorest, and most turbu- lent country in Europe, has become one of the most industrious, the most improving, and most orderly." SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. The administration of Walpole was the longest which has occurred since the days of Queen Elizabeth. He was probably the most dexterous party leader which En- gland ever had ; " equally skilled to win popular favor, to govern the House of Com- mons, and to influence and be influenced by public opinion." Descended from an ancient and respectable family, he was born at Houghton, in Norfolkshire, on the 26th day of August, 1676. Part of his boyhood was spent at Eton, and he was for two years a member of the University of Cambridge ; but in neither of these places did he give any indications of superior talents. In early life he was remarkable for nothing but his high spirits and dislike of study. The only benefit he seems to have obtained from his early education, was a facility which he acquired at Eton of conversing in Latin. This became to him afterward an important instrument of power. George I. could speak no English, and Walpole no German : so they compromised the matter when he was made Prime Minister ; and all the communications between him and his master, involving the highest in- terests of the kingdom, were carried on in " very bad Latin." The first impulse given to the mind of Walpole arose from his being elected a member of Parliament at the age of twenty-four. A vein was now struck which laid open the master principle of his character. It was a spirit of intense ambition. From this moment he laid aside all his sluggishness and love of ease ; he threw himself at once into the arena of political strife ; and the whole cast of his mind and feelings, as well as the character of the times, went to secure his early ascendency. He had naturally great force and penetration of intellect ; a clear judgment ; a dauntless spirit ; a thorough knowledge of human nature, especially on its weak side : infinite dexterity in carrying on or counteracting political intrigues ; a self-possession which never forsook him in the most trying circumstances ; and a perfectly unscrupu- lous freedom in the adoption of every means that seemed necessary to the accomplish- ment of his designs. The only acquired knowledge which he brought with him into public life, was a thorough acquaintance with finance. It was precisely the knowl- edge that was needed at that juncture ; and it laid the foundation, at no distant pe- riod, of the long and almost despotic sway which he exercised over English affairs. On taking his seat in Parliament, in 1710, he joined himself to the Whig party, and was almost immediately brought into office as Secretary at War. Thrown out soon after by a change of ministry, which arose from the silly prosecution of $a- cheverell, he was restored to office in 1714, when the Whigs came into power under George I. From this time, for nearly thirty years, he was an active member of the government, during twenty of which he was Prime Minister. To this office he was called, by general consent, in 1721, on the explosion of the South Sea project, which filled the whole island with consternation and ruin. He had opposed the scheme and predicted its failure from the outset, though he had the sagacity to profit largely by speculating in the stock; and now that his predictions were fulfilled, every eye was turned to Walpole, as the only one fitted, by his financial skill, to repair t lie shat- tered credit of the country. He was made First Lord of the Treasury, ami Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, on the second of April, 1721. Walpole had now reached the summit of his ambition; and if lie had only been 28 SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. just and liberal to his political associates, he might, pernaps, even in that faithless and intriguing age, have gone on to enjoy an undisputed supremacy. But his am- bition was domineering and exclusive. He was jealous of every man in his own party, whose growing influence or force of character seemed likely to raise him above the station of a humble dependant. In about two years he quarreled with Car- teret, one of the most gifted men of the age, who came in with him as Secretary of State, simply because he would allow of no colleague, but was resolved to rule at the council board as sole master. Within two years more, he endeavored to put Pulteney out of the way by a specious offer of the peerage ; and thus made the most eloquent speaker in the House, before the time of Chatham, his enemy for life. Chesterfield was turned out from his station as Lord Steward of the Household, with circumstances of personal insult, because he voted against the Excise Bill, which Walpole himself soon after abandoned. Others of the nobility, with a number of military officers, among whom was Lord Chatham, were treated with the same in- dignity. Thus he alienated from him, by degrees, nearly all the talent of the Whig party. The Opposition which he had to encounter was, therefore, composed of singularly discordant materials. To his natural opponents, the Jacobites and Tories, was added a large body of disaffected Whigs, who took the name of " Patriots." Bolingbroke, after the pardon of his treasons by George L, and his return to England in 1724, though not restored to his seat in the House of Lords, and therefore unable to share in public debate, was the acknowledged leader of the Tories and Jacobites ; and, by a coalition which he soon after made with Pulteney, became for nearly ten years the real head of the Opposition. He was qualified for this station by extraordinary abili- ties and matured experience. He was a veteran in the arts of popular delusion. Such was the ascendency of his genius over the strongest minds, that he could unite Wyndham and Pulteney in the same" measures ; and from his station behind the scenes, could move the machinery of Opposition with the greater coolness because he had no share in public measures. Men were thus brought into one body, under the strictest party discipline, who could never have acted together for a moment on any other subject. They comprised a large part of the talent of the kingdom ; and were engaged for years in the struggle to put Walpole down, animated, in most in- stances, not only by an intense desire for office, but by personal resentment and a spirit of revenge. It was certainly a proof of consummate ability in Walpole, that he was able to stand for a single year against such an Opposition. That he sustained himself, to a considerable extent, by the systematic bribery of the leading members of Parliament, there can be no doubt. Nor is he to be tried by the standard of the present day on that subject. Charles II. commenced the system : it was continued under his suc- cessor ; and when William III. was placed on the throne by the Revolution of 1688, he found it impossible to carry on the government without resorting to the same means. " It was not, therefore," as remarked by Cooke in his History of Par- ty, "the minister who corrupted the age ; his crime was that he pandered to the prevailing depravity." But bribery alone could never have given Walpole so com- plete an ascendency. A ministerial majority, even when part of its members are bribed, demand of their leader at least plausible reasons for the vote they give. Against such an Opposition as he had to encounter, nothing but extraordinary tal- ents, and a thorough knowledge of affairs, could have maintained him for a single month at the head of the government. And it is a remarkable fact, as to the lead- ing measures for which he was so vehemently assailed, his Excise Bill, Wood's Pat- ent, a Standing Army, Septennial Parliaments, the Hanover Treaty, and the Span- ish Convention, that the verdict of posterity has been decidedly in his favor. Even SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. 29 Lord Chatham, who in early life was drawn under the influence of the Opposition leaders by their extraordinary talents and specious pretensions to patriotism, pub- licly declared, at a later period, that he had changed his views of the principal measures of Walpole. But while posterity have thus decided for Walpole, on the main questions in de- bate between him and the Opposition, they have been far from awarding to him the honors of a great statesman. He undoubtedly rendered a most important service to liis country, by the skill and firmness with which he defeated the machinations of the Jacobites, and held the house of Brunswick on the throne. It was not with- out reason that Gtueen Caroline, on her dying bed, commended, not Walpole to the favor of the King, but the King to the protection and support of Walpole. Still, it is apparent, from the whole tenor of his conduct, that in this, as in every other case, he was governed by the absorbing passion of his life, the love of office. " He un- derstood," says Lord Campbell, " the material interests of the country, and, so far as was consistent with the retention of power, he was desirous of pursuing them." We have here the key to every measure of his administration — " the retention of foiuer /" It was this that dictated his favorite maxim, ne quieta movcas, because he felt that change, however useful, might weaken his hold on office. Hence his scandalous treatment of the Dissenters, whom he deluded for years with solemn promises of deliverance from the galling yoke of the Test Act, and thus held them as firm supporters of his ministry in the most trying seasons ; but when driven at last to say, "When will the time come ?" he answered, as he always meant, " Nev- er !" He was afraid of the High Church party ; and he chose rather to break his word, than to venture on what he acknowledged to be a simple act of justice. It was so in every thing. He would run no personal risk to secure the most certain and valuable improvements. He would do nothing to provide against remote dan- gers, if it cost any great and immediate sacrifice. He therefore did nothing for the advancement of English institutions. He was the minister of the Present, not of the Future. His conduct in respect to the Spanish war furnishes a complete exhi- bition of his character, and has covered his memory with indelible disgrace. He knew it to be unnecessary and unjust — " the most unprovoked and unjustifiable war," as a great writer has observed, " in the English annals." Any other minis- ter, rather than be forced into it by the popular clamor, would have instantly re- signed. But in the words of Lord Mahon, who was disposed, in general, to judge favorably of Walpole, " He still clung unworthily to his darling office ; thus proving that a love of power, and not a love of peace (as has been pretended), was his rul- ing principle. It was a sin against light. No man had a clearer view of the im- pending mischief and misery of the Spanish war. On the veiy day of the Declara- tion, when joyful peals were heard from every steeple of the city, the minister mut- tered, ' They may ring the bells now ; before long they will be wringing their hands.' Yet of this mischief and misery he could stoop to be the instrument !" The selfish and temporizing policy of Walpole, on this occasion, proved his ruin. The war, which he never intended should take place, and for which he had, there- fore, made no preparation, proved disastrous to the English ; and the Opposition had the art to turn the popular odium with double violence upon the minister, for the failure of a measure which they had themselves forced upon him. The circum- stances attending his fall from power will be detailed hereafter, in connection with his speech on a motion for his removal from office. He resigned all his employ- ments on the 11th of February, 1742, and died about three years after, just as ho was entering his sixty-ninth year. The age of Walpole was an age rather of keen debate than impassioned elo- quence. If we except Lord Chatham, whose greatest efforts belong to a later pe- 30 SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. riod, we shall find but little in the leading orators of the day that was lofty or im- posing. They were emphatically business speakers, eagerly intent upon their object, but destitute of any principles or feelings, which could raise them above the level of the most selfish minds, engaged in a desperate struggle for office and power. We find, therefore, in their speeches, no large views, no generous and elevated senti- ments, none of those appeals to the higher instincts of our nature, which are the crowning excellence of our English oratory. Any thing of this kind would have been laughed down by Walpole, as sheer affectation. Even patriotism, which is too often a limited and selfish virtue, he regarded as mere pretense. " Patriots," says he, " spring up like mushrooms ! I could raise fifty of them within the twenty-four hours. I have raised many of them in a single night. It is but refusing to gratify an unreasonable or an insolent demand, and up starts a patriot!" The reasonings of that day were brief and pointed ; with no attempts at philosophy ; with but little breadth of illustration ; with scarcely any disposition to discuss a subject in its prin- ciples. Parliamentary speaking was literally " a keen encounter of the wits," in which the ball of debate was tossed to and fro between men of high talent, who perfectly understood each other's motives, and showed infinite dexterity in twisting facts and arguments to serve a purpose. It was the maxim of the day, that every thing was fair in politics. — The best speeches abounded in wit and sarcasm, in sly insinuations or cutting invective, all thrown off with a light, bold, confident air, in racy English, and without any apparent effort. The language of debate approached as near to that of actual conversation, as the nature of the topics, and the flow of continuous discourse, would permit. It was direct and idiomatic ; the language of men who had lived in the society of Addison and Swift ; and who endeavored to unite the ease and simplicity of the one with the pungency and force of the other. It is a style of speaking which has always been a favorite one in the British Senate ; and notwithstanding the examples of a loftier strain of eloquence in that body since the days of Chatham, it is still (though connected with more thorough discussion) the style which is cultivated by a majority of speakers down to the present day in both houses of Parliament. WYNDHAM AND WALPOLE ON THE SEPTENNIAL ACT. INTRODUCTION. The Septennial Act was passed in 1716, extending the duration of Parliaments from three to seven years. By an extraordinary stretch of power, the Act was made applicable to the Parliament that passed if, whose members, by their own vote, thus added four years to their tenure of office. This they did ou the ground that the nation had just emerged from a dangerous rebellion, and that the public mind was still in so agitated a state, as to render the exciting scenes of a general election hazardous to the public safety. Whatever may be thought of this plea (and perhaps most men at the present day would unite with Mr. Hallam in justifying the measure), no one can doubt that the provisions of the Septennial Act, in respect to subsequent Parliaments, were strictly legal. This Act has now been in operation eighteen years; and Bolingbroke, who planned the leading meas- ures of the Opposition, saw that a motion to repeal it would embarrass the ministry, and gratify at once the landholders and the mob. The landholders, who were almost to a man Jacobites or Tories, would be zealous for the repeal, since they were not only indignant at the Act, as originally directed against them- selves, but had found by experience, that it was greatly for their interest to have frequent elections. The influence they possessed over their tenantry, could be exerted at any moment, and cost them little or nothing. This influence the Whigs in power could overcome only at an enormous expense. Every gen- eral election was, therefore, a scene of general licentiousness and bribery, to which the common people looked forward as their harvest season ; and so vast was the pecuniary sacrifice to which the Whigs were thus subjected, that they could never endure it if the elections were of frequent occurrence. Thus, ac- cording to Bolingbroke's calculations, if the Act was repealed, the Whigs would be driven from power ; if it was not repealed, they would be loaded with the resentment of all classes, from the highest to the lowest. There was a part of the Opposition, however, who were delicately situated in respect to this Act. It was a measure of their own. They had argued and voted for it as essential to the public security. Such was the case with Pulteney and most of the disaffected Whigs ; and it was a long time before Bolingbroke succeeded in wheedling or driving them into his plan. At last, however, party discipline and the desire of office prevailed. The motion was made on the 13th of March, 1734, and gave rise to one of the most celebrated debates in English history. It was on this occasion that Sir William Wyndham, the leader of the Tories in the House, delivered what was undoubtedly his master-piece of eloquence. This speech, however, is remembered with inter- est at the present day, only on account of the altercation to which it gave rise between him and Walpole. He closed with a bitter personal attack on the minister, and thus drew forth a reply of equal bitterness, which concluded the debate. In this reply, however, Walpole, instead of retaliating upon Wyndham, turned adroitly upon Bolingbroke as the real author of all the maneuvers against him; and while he thus threw contempt on Wyndham, by treating him as the mere mouth-piece of another, he inflicted a castiga- tion upon Bolingbroke which, for stinging effect and perfect adherence to truth, has rarely been surpassed in the British Parliament. This, in connection with the attack of Wyndham, will now be given; and the reader will observe how dexterously Walpole, in going on, as he does, briefly to defend tbe Septen- nial Act, argues with the Tories on their own ground ; showing that frequent Parliaments serve to extend and perpetuate the democratic principle in the English Constitution — a thing against which every true Tory must feel himself bound to contend. SIR WILLIAM WYNDHAM'S 1 ATTACK ON SIR ROBERT WALPOLE, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON A MOTION FOR THE REPEAL OF THE SEPTENNIAL ACT, MARCH 13, 1734. [Mr. Wyndham, after dwelling on a variety of arguments (chiefly in reply to others), which, from a change of circumstances, are of but lit— 1 Wyndham was born in 1G87, of an ancient fam- ily, and was heir to one of the richest baronetcies in England. He entered Parliament at the age of twenty-one, and immediately attached himself to Bolingbroke, under whose instruction he soon be- came expert in all the arts of oratory and intrigue. tie interest at the present day, concluded in the following manner :] We have been told, sir. in this House, that no faith is to be given to prophecies, therefore I shall not pretend to prophesy ; but 1 may sup- pose a ease, which, though it has not yet hap- pened, may possibly happen. Let us then sup- pose, sir, a man abandoned to all notions of vir- tue or honor, of no great family, and of but a 32 SIR ROBERT WALPOLE ON THE [1734. mean fortune, raised to be chief minister of state by the concurrence of many whimsical events ; afraid or unwilling to trust any but creatures of I his own making, and most of them equally aban- doned to all notions of virtue or honor ; ignorant of the true interest of his country, and consult- ing nothing but that of enriching and aggrand- izing himself and his favorites ; in foreign affairs, trusting none but those whose education makes it impossible for them to have such knowledge or such qualifications, as can either be of serv- ice to their country, or give any weight or credit to their negotiations. Let us suppose the true interest of the nation, by such means, neglected or misunderstood ; her honor and credit lost ; \ her trade insulted ; her merchants plundered ; and her sailors murdered ; and all these things overlooked, only for fear his administration should be endangered. Suppose him, next, possessed of great wealth, the plunder of the nation, with a Parliament of his own choosing, most of their seats purchased, and their votes bought at the expense of the public treasure. In such a Par- liament, let us suppose attempts made to inquire into his conduct, or to relieve the nation from the distress he has brought upon it ; and when lights proper for attaining those ends are called for, not perhaps for the information of the particular gentlemen who call for them, but because noth- ing can be done in a parliamentary way, till these things be in a proper way laid before Par- liament ; suppose these lights refused, these rea- sonable requests rejected by a corrupt majority of his creatures, whom he retains in daily pay, or engages in his particular interest, by granting them those posts and places which ought never to be given to any but for the good of the pub- | lie. Upon this scandalous victory, let us sup- pose this chief minister pluming himself in defi- ances, because he finds he has got a Parliament, like a packed jury, ready to acquit him at all adventures. Let us further suppose him arrived to that degree of insolence and arrogance, as to domineer over all the men of ancient families, all the men of sense, figure, or fortune in the nation, and as he has no virtue of his own, ridi- culing it in others, and endeavoring to destroy or corrupt it in all. I am still not prophesying, sir ; I am only supposing ; and the case I am going to suppose I hope never will happen. But with such a minister and such a Parliament, let us suppose a prince upon the throne, either for want of true information, or for some other reason, ignorant and unacquainted with the inclinations and the interest of his people ; weak, and hurried away by unbounded ambition and insatiable avarice. This case, sir, has never yet happened in this nation. I hope, I say, it will never exist. But as it is possible it may, could there any greater curse happen to a nation, than such a prince on the throne, advised, and solely advised, by such a minister, and that minister supported by such a Parliament ? The nature of mankind can not be altered by human laws ; the existence of such a prince or such a minister we can not prevent by act of Parliament ; but the existence of such a Parliament I think we may. And as such a Parliament is much more likely to exist, and may do more mischief while the septennial law re- mains in force, than if it were repealed, therefore I am most heartily for the repeal of it. SPEECH OF SIR ROBERT WALPOLE ON A MOTION TO REPEAL THE SEPTENNIAL BILL, DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1734, IN REPLY TO SIR WILLIAM WYNDHAM. Sir, — I do assure you, I did not intend to have troubled you on this occasion. But such inci- dents now generally happen toward the end of our debates, nothing at all relating to the sub- ject ; and gentlemen make such suppositions (meaning some person, or perhaps, as they say, no person now in being), and talk so much of wicked ministers, domineering ministers, minis- ters pluming themselves in defiances — which terms, and such like, have been of late so much made use of in this House — that if they really mean nobody either in the House or out of it, yet it must be supposed they at least mean to call upon some gentleman in this House to make them a reply. I hope, therelore, I may be allow- ed to draw a picture in my turn ; and I may likewise say, that I do not mean to give a de- scription of any particular person now in being. When gentlemen talk of ministers abandoned to all sense of virtue or honor, other gentlemen may, I am sure, with equal justice, and, I think, more justly, speak of anti-ministers and mock- patriots, who never had either virtue or honor ; but in the whole course of their opposition are actuated only by motives of envy, and of resent- ment against those who have disappointed them in their views, or may not perhaps hare com- plied with all their desires. But now, sir, let me too suppose, and the House being cleared, I am sure no one that hears me can come within the description of the per- son I am to suppose. Let us suppose in this, ' or in some other unfortunate country, an anti- minister, who thinks himself a person of so great and extensive parts, and of so many eminent I qualifications, that he looks upon himself as the j only person in the kingdom capable to conduct the public affairs of the nation ; and therefore I christening every other gentleman who has the honor to be employed in the administration by the name of Blunderer. Suppose this fine gen- tleman lucky enough to have gained over to his party some persons really of fine parts, of an- cient families, and of great fortunes, and others of desperate views, arising from disappointed and malicious hearts ; all these gentlemen, with re- spect to their political behavior, moved by him, and by him solely ; all they say, either in private 1734.] MOTION TO REPEAL THE SEPTENNIAL BILL. 33 or public, being only a repetition of the words he has put into their mouths, and a spitting out of that venom which he has infused into them ; and yet we may suppose this leader not really liked by any, even of those who so blindly follow him, and hated by all the rest of mankind. We will suppose this anti-minister to be in a country where he really ought not to be, and where he could not have been but by an effect of too much goodness and mercy ; yet endeavoring, with all his might and with all his art, to destroy the fountain from whence that mercy flowed. In that country suppose him continually contract- ing friendships and familiarities with the em- bassadors of those princes who at the time hap- pen to be most at enmity with his own ; and if at any time it should happen to be for the in- terest of any of those foreign ministers to have a secret divulged to them, which might be highly prejudicial to his native country, as well as to all its friends ; suppose this foreign minister apply- ing to him, and he answering, " I will get it you ; tell me but what you want, I will endeav- or to procure it for you." Upon this he puts a speech or two in the mouths of some of his creat- ures, or some of his new converts. What he wants is moved for in Parliament, and when so very reasonable a request as this is refused, sup- pose him and his creatures and tools, by his ad- vice, spreading the alarm over the whole nation, and crying out, " Gentlemen, our country is at present involved in many dangerous difficulties, all which we would have extricated you from, but a wicked minister and a corrupt majority refused us the proper materials !" And upon "this scandalous victory," this minister became so insolent as " to plume himself in defiances !" Let us further suppose this anti-minister to have traveled, and at every court where he was, think- ing himself the greatest minister, and making it his trade to betray the secrets of every court where he had before been ; void of all faith or honor, and betraying every master he ever serv- ed. I could carry my suppositions a great deal further, and I may say I mean no person now in being ; but if we can suppose such a one,' can there be imagined a greater disgrace to human nature than such a wretch as this ?* i "How must Wyndham and Pulteney," says Lord Mahon, "have quailed before this terrible in- vective ! How must it have wrung the haughty soul of Bolingbroke !" Every word of it was true. While Secretary of State under Queen Anne, he maintained a treasonable correspondence with the Pretender, though he contrived, at the time, to con- ceal the evidence, which has since been made pub- lic. On the accession of George I. he fled to France, and was made the Pretender's Secretary of State. Having quarreled with his new master, "after some years, such were his powers of insinuation, that he obtained a pardon from George I., and was thus re- stored to a country " where he could not have been, but by the effect of too much goodness and mercy." Here he did the very things described by Walpole ; his friends did not deny it, or attempt his defense. As he soon after gave up the contest, and announced his intention to quit England forever, it has been c Now, to be serious, and to talk really to the subject in hand. Though the question has been already so fully and so handsomely opposed by my worthy friend under the gallery, by the learned gentleman near me, and by several oth- ers, that there is no great occasion to say any thing further against it ; yet, as some new mat- ter has been stated by some of the gentlemen who have since that time spoke upon the other side of the question, I hope the House will in- dulge me the liberty of giving some of those rea- sons which induce me to be against the motion. In general, I must take notice, that the nature of our constitution seems to be very much mis- taken by the gentlemen who have spoken in fa- vor of this motion. It is certain that ours is a mixed government ; and the perfection of our constitution consists in this, that the monarchic- al, aristocratical, and democratical forms of gov- ernment are mixed and interwoven in ours, so as to give us all the advantages of each, without subjecting us to the dangers and inconveniences of either. The democratical form of government, which is the only one I have now occasion to take notice of, is liable to these inconveniences, that they are generally too tedious in their com- ing to any resolution, and seldom brisk and ex- peditious enough in carrying their resolutions into execution. That they are always wavering in their resolutions, and never steady in any of the measures they resolve to pursue ; and that they are often involved in factions, seditions, and insurrections, which expose them to be made the tools, if not the prey of their neighbors. Therefore, in all the regulations we make with respect to our constitution, we are to guard against running too much into that form of gov- ernment which is properly called democratical. This was, in my opinion, the effect of the trien- nial law, and will again be the effect, if it should ever be restored. That triennial elections would make our gov- ernment too tedious in all their resolves is evi- dent ; because, in such case, no prudent admin- istration would ever resolve upon any measure of consequence till they had felt, not only the pulse of the Parliament, but the pulse of the peo- ple. The ministers of state would always labor under this disadvantage, that as secrets of state must not be immediately divulged, their enemies (and enemies they will always have) would have a handle for exposing their measures, and render- ing them disagreeable to the people-, and there- by carrying perhaps a new election against them, before they could have an opportunity of justify- ing their measures, by divulging those fads and circumstances from whence the justice and the wisdom of their measures would clearly appear. Then it is by experience well known, that what is called the populace of every country arc apt to understood that this speech of Walpole drove him from the country. Lord Mahon has indeed shown that he had other reasons for going ; but this does not prove that Walpole's invective was not one im- portant cause, by destroying all his hopes of future success. 34 SIR ROBERT WALPOLE ON THE [1734. be too much elated with success, and too much dejected with every misfortune. This makes them wavering in their opinions about affairs of state, and never long of the same mind. And as this House is chosen by the free and unbiased voice of the people in general, if this choice were so often renewed, we might expect that this House would be as wavering and as unsteady as the people usually are. And it being impos- sible to carry on the public affairs of the nation without the concurrence of this House, the min- isters would always be obliged to comply, and consequently would be obliged to change their measures as often ^as the people changed their minds. With septennial Parliaments we are not ex- posed to either of these misfortunes, because, if the ministers, after having felt the pulse of the Parliament (which they can always soon do), re- solve upon any measures, they have generally time enough, before the new election comes on, to give the people proper information, in order to show them the justice and the wisdom of the measures they have pursued. And if the people should at any time be too much elated or too much dejected, or should, without a cause, change their minds, those at the helm of affairs have time to set them right before a new election comes on. As to faction and sedition, I will grant, that in monarchical and aristocratical governments, it generally arises from violence and oppression ; but in popular or mixed governments, it always arises from the people's having too great a share in the government. For in all countries, and in all governments, there always will be many fac- tious and unquiet spirits, who can never be at rest, either in power or out of power. When in power they are never easy, unless every man submits entirely to their directions; and w 7 hen out of power, they are always working and in- triguing against those that are in, without any regard to justice, or to the interest of their coun- try. In popular governments such men have too much game. They have too many oppor- tunities for working upon and corrupting the minds of the people, in order to give them a bad impression of, and to raise discontents against those that have the management of the public affairs for the time ; and these discontents often break out into seditions and insurrections. This would, in my opinion, be our misfortune, if our Parliaments wei-e either annual or triennial. By such frequent elections, there would be so much power thrown into the hands of the people, as would destroy that equal mixture, which is the beauty of our constitution. In short, our gov- ernment would really become a democratical government, and might from thence very prob- ably diverge into a tyrannical. Therefore, in order to preserve our constitution, in order to prevent our falling under tyranny and arbitrary power, we ought to preserve this law, which I really think has brought our constitution to a more equal mixture, and consequently to a great- er perfecticia, than it was ever in before that law took place As to bribery and corruption, if it were pos- sible to influence, by such base means, the ma- jority of the electors of Great Britain, to choose such men as would probably give up their lib- erties — if it were possible to influence, by such means, a majority of the members of this House to consent to the establishment of arbitrary pow- er — I should readily allow, that the calculations made by the gentlemen of the other side were just, and their inference true. But I am per- suaded that neither of these is possible. As the members of this House generally are, and must always be, gentlemen of fortune and figure in their country, is it possible to suppose that any of them could, by a pension or a post, be influ- enced to consent to the overthrow' of our consti- tution, by which the enjoyment, not only of what he got, but of what he before had, would be ren- dered altogether precarious ? I will allow, that with respect to bribery, the price must be high- er or lower, generally in proportion to the virtue of the man who is to be bribed ; but it must like- wise be granted that the humor he happens to be in at the time, and the spirit he happens to be endowed with, adds a great deal to his virtue. When no encroachments are made upon the rights of the people, when the people do not think themselves in any danger, there may be many of the electors who, by a bribe of ten guin- eas, might be induced to vote for one candidate rather than another. But if the court were mak- ing any encroachments upon the rights of the people, a proper spirit would, without doubt, arise in the nation ; and in such a case I am per- suaded that none, or very few, even of such elect- ors, could be induced to vote for a court candi- date — no, not for ten times the sum. There may be some bribery and corruption in the nation ; I am afraid there will always be some. But it is no proof of it that strangers [i. e., non-residents] are sometimes chosen ; for a man may have so much natural influence over a borough in his neighborhood, as to be able to prevail with them to choose any person he pleas- es to recommend. And if upon such recom- mendation they choose one or two of his friends, who are perhaps strangers to them, it is not from thence to be inferred that the two strangers were chosen their representatives by the means of brib- ery and corruption. To insinuate that money may be issued from the public treasury for bribing elections, is really something very extraordinary, especially in those gentlemen who know how many checks are upon every shilling that can be issued from thence ; and how regularly the money granted in one year for the service of the nation must always be accounted for the very next session in this House, and likewise in the other, if they have a mind to call for any such account. 2 And as to gentlemen in office, if they have any advantage over country gentlemen, in having something else to depend on besides their own private for- 2 Walpole*s notorious system of bribery was cer- tainly not conducted in so bungling a manner. 1734] MOTION TO REPEAL THE SEPTENNIAL BILL. 35 tunes, they have likewise many disadvantages. They are obliged to live here at London with their families, by which they are put to a much greater expense, than gentlemen of equal fortune who live in the country. This lays them under a very great disadvantage in supporting their in- terest in the country. The country gentleman, by living among the electors, and purchasing the necessaries for his family from them, keeps up an acquaintance and correspondence with them, without putting himself to any extraordinary charge. Whereas a gentleman who lives in London has no other way of keeping up an ac- quaintance and correspondence among his friends in the country, but by going down once or twice a year, at a very extraordinary expense, and oft- en without any other business ; so that we may conclude, a gentleman in office can not, even in seven years, save much for distributing in ready money at the time of an election. And I really believe, if the fact were narrowly inquired into, it would appear, that the gentlemen in office are as little guilty of bribing their electors with ready money, as any other set of gentlemen in the king- dom. That there are ferments often raised among the people without any just cause, is what I am surprised to hear controverted, since very late experience may convince us of the contrary. Do not we know what a ferment was raised in the nation toward the latter end of the late Queen's reign ? And it is well known what a fatal change in the affairs of this nation was in- troduced, or at least confirmed, by an election coming on while the nation was in that ferment. 3 Do not we know what a ferment was raised in the nation soon after his late Majesty's acces- sion ? And if an election had then been allowed to come on while the nation was in that ferment, it might perhaps have had as fatal effects as the former. But, thank God, this was wisely pro- vided against by the very law which is now sought to be repealed. It has, indeed, been said, that the chief mo- tive for enacting that law now no longer exists. I can not admit that the motive they mean, was the chief motive ; but even that motive is very far from having entirely ceased. Can gentlemen imagine, that in the spirit raised in the nation [against the Excise BillJ not above a twelve- month since, Jacobitism and disaffection to the present government had no share ? Perhaps some who might wish well to the present estab- lishment, did co-operate ; nay, I do not know but they were the first movers of that spirit • but it can not be supposed that the spirit then raised should have grown up to such a ferment, merely from a proposition which was honestly and fair- ly laid before the Parliament, and left entirely to their determination ! No ; the spirit was per- haps begun by those who are truly friends to the illustrious family we have now upon the throne. But it was raised to a much greater height than, I believe, even they designed, by Jacobites, and such as are enemies to our present establishment ; who thought they never had a fairer opportunity of bringing about what they had so long and so unsuccessfully wished for, than that which had been furnished them by those who first raised that spirit. I hope the people have now in a great measure come to themselves ; and therefore I doubt not but the next elections will show, that when they are left to judge coolly, they can dis- tinguish between the real and the pretended friends to the government. But I must say, if the ferment then raised in the nation had not al- ready greatly subsided, I should have thought a new election a very dangerous experiment. And as such ferments may hereafter often hap- pen, I must think that frequent elections will al- ways be dangerous ; for which reason, in so far as I can see at present, I shall, I believe, at all times think it a very dangerous experiment to repeal the Septennial Bill. The motion for repeal was rejected by a large majority, and the bill has remained untouched down to the present time. Most reflecting men will agree with Mr. Macaulay, that " the repeal of the Septennial Act, unaccompanied by a com- plete reform of the constitution of the elective body, would have been an unmixed curse to the country." SPEECH OF SIR ROBERT WALPOLE ON A MOTION FOR ADDRESSING THE KING FOR HIS REMOVAL, DE- LIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, FEBRUARY, 1741. INTRODUCTION. The unpopularity of Walpole was greatly increased by the disasters of the Spanish war, all of which were ascribed to his bad management or want of preparation. The Opposition, therefore, decided, early in 1741, on the extreme measure of proposing an address to the King for his removal. Accordingly, Mr. Sandys, who was designated to take the lead, gave notice of a motion to that effect on the 11th of Feb- ruary, 1741. Walpole rose immediately and thanked him for the information. He went on with great calmness and dignity, to assure the House that he was ready to meet every charge that could he brought 3 Allusion is here made to the ferment created by the trial of Sachevercll, and the fall of the Whig administration of Godolphin, Somers, ice, conse- quent thereon. This change of ministry led to the Peace of Utrecht, by which the English gained far less, and their opponents more, than had been generally expected under the Whig administra- tion. 36 • SIR ROBERT WALPOLE ON [1741. against him ; that he desired no favor, but simply a fair hearing ; and concluded by laying his hand on his breast, and declaring, in the words of his favorite Horace, that he was " conscious of no crime, and dreaded no accusation." 1 At the end of two days the motion was made; and such was the eagerness of public expectation, that the galleries were filled before daybreak, and many of the members took their places in the House at six o'clock in the morning to secure themselves a seat. At one o'clock, when the debate opened, nearly five hundred members of Parliament were present. On bringing forward his motion, Sandys, in a speech of great length and considerable ability, went over all the charges which from time to time had been urged against the minister. As to none of them did he attempt any new proofs ; and nearly all were of that general nature which would certainly justify inquiry, but hardly authorize any decisive action. His main argument, after all, was, that Walpole had been at the head of affairs for twenty years, and that the people were tired of him as a minister, and hated him as a man. He ended by saying, " I have not, at present, any occasion for showing that the Favorite I am now complaining of has been guilty of heinous crimes, yet I will say that there is a very general suspicion against him ; that this suspicion is justified by the present situation of our affairs both at home and abroad ; and that it is ridiculous to expect that any proper discovery should be made as long as he is in possession of all the proofs, and has the distribution of all the penalties the crown can inflict, as well as of all the favors the crown can bestow. Remove him from the King's councils and presence ; remove him from those high offices and power he is now possessed of. If he has been guilty of any crimes, the proofs may then be come at, and the witnesses against him will not be afraid to appear. Till you do this, it is impossible to determine whether he is guilty or innocent ; and, considering the universal clamor against him, it is high time to reduce him to such a condition that he may be brought to a fair, an impar- tial, and a strict account. If he were conscious of his being entirely innocent, and had a due regard to the security and glory of his master and sovereign, he would have chosen to have put himself into this condition long before this time. Since he has not thought fit to do so, it is our duty to endeavor to do it for him ; and, therefore, I shall conclude with moving, ' That an humble address be presented to his Maj- esty, that he would be graciously pleased to remove the right honorable Sir Robert "Walpole, knight of the most noble order of the garter, first commissioner for executing the office of treasurer of the excheq- uer, chancellor and under-treasurer of the exchequer, and one of his Majesty's most honorable privy coun- cil, from his Majesty's presence and councils forever.' " A few days after, Walpole made a speech of four hours, in reply to Sandys and others, by whom he had been attacked. We have only an imperfect outline of his argument in the speech given below, but there is reason to believe that the introductory part and the conclusion are very nearly in his own words. SPEECH, &c. It has been observed by several gentlemen, in vindication of this motion, that if it should be carried, neither my life, liberty, nor estate will be affected. But do the honorable gentlemen consider my character and reputation as of no moment? Is it no imputation to be arraigned before this House, in which I have sat forty years, and to have my name transmitted to pos- 1 In quoting the words of Horace (Epistle I., 61), Walpole gave them thus : Nil conscire sibi, nulli pallescere culpte. Pulteney, who sat by, cried out, "Your Latin is as bad as your logic !" " Nulla pallescere culpa !" Walpole defended his quotation, and offered to bet a guinea on its correctness. The question was ac- cordingly referred to Sir Nicholas Hardinge, clerk of the House, whose extraordinary erudition was ac- knowledged by all, and he at once decided in favor of Pulteney. Walpole tossed him the guinea, and Pulteney, as he caught it, held it up before the House, exclaiming, " It is the only money I have re- ceived from the treasury for many years, and it shall be the last." He kept the guinea to the end of his life, as a memento of this occurrence, and left it to his children, with a paper stating how it was won, and adding, "This guinea I desire may be kept as an heir-loom. It will prove to my posterity the use of knowing Latin, and will encourage them in their learning." It is now deposited in the medal-room of the British Museum. terity with disgrace and infamy? I will not conceal my sentiments, that to be named in Par- liament as a subject of inquiry, is to me a matter of great concern. But I have the satisfaction, at the same time, to reflect, that the impression to be made depends upon the consistency of the charge and the motives of the prosecutors. Had the charge been reduced to specific alle- gations, I should have felt myself called upon for a specific defense. Had I served a weak or wicked master, and implicitly obeyed his dic- tates, obedience to his commands must have been my only justification. But as it has been my good fortune to serve a master who wants no bad ministers, and would have hearkened to none, my defense must rest on my own conduct. The consciousness of innocence is also a suffi- cient support against my present prosecutors. A further justification is derived from a consid- eration of the views and abilities of the prosecu- tors. Had I been guilty of great enormities, they want neither zeal and inclination to bring them forward, nor ability to place them in the most prominent point of view. But as I am con- scious of no crime, my own experience convinces me that none can be justly imputed. I must therefore ask the gentlemen, From whence does this attack proceed? From the passions and prejudices of the parties combined 1741.] ADDRESSING THE KING FOR HIS REMOVAL. 37 against me, who may be divided into three class- es, the Boys, the riper Patriots, and the Tories. 1 The Tories I can easily forgive. They have un- willingly come into the measure ; and they do me honor in thinking it necessary to remove me, as their only obstacle. What, then, is the infer- ence to be drawn from these premises ? That demerit with my opponents ought to be consid- ered as merit with others. But my great and principal crime is my long continuance in office ; or, in other words, the long exclusion of those who now complain against me. This is the hei- nous offense which exceeds all others. I keep from them the possession of that power, those honors, and those emoluments, to which they so ardently and pertinaciously aspire. I will not attempt to deny the reasonableness and necessity of a party war ; but in carrying on that war, all principles and rules of justice should not be de- parted from. The Tories must confess that the most obnoxious persons have felt few instances of extra-judicial power. Wherever they have been arraigned, a plain charge has been exhib- ited against them. They have had an impartial trial, and have been permitted to make their de- fense. And will they, who have experienced this fair and equitable mode of proceeding, act in direct opposition to every principle of justice, and establish this fatal precedent of parliament- ary inquisition? Whom would they conciliate by a conduct so contrary to principle and pre- cedent ? Can it be fitting in them [the Tories], who have divided the public opinion of the nation, to share it with those who now appear as their competitors ? With the men of yesterday, the boys in politics, who would be absolutely con- temptible did not their audacity render them de- testable ? With the mock patriots, whose prac- tice and professions prove their selfishness and malignity ; who threatened to pursue me to de- struction, and who have never for a moment lost sight of their object? These men, under the name of Separatists, presume to call themselves exclusively the nation and the people, and under that character assume all power. In their es- timation, the King, Lords, and Commons are a faction, and they are the government. Upon these principles they threaten the destruction of all authority, and think they have a right to judge, direct, and resist all legal magistrates. They withdraw from Parliament because they succeed in nothing ; and then attribute their want of success, not to its true cause, their own want of integrity and importance, but to the effect of places, pensions, and corruption. 2 May it not i By the Boys he means Pitt, Lyttleton, &c, who were recently from college, with an ardent love of liberty, and much under the influence of Pultcney and others of more mature age, who were the "riper Patriots." 2 This refers to a secession from the House head- ed by Wyndham, after the debate on the Spanish convention in 1739. It placed those who withdrew in a very awkward and even ridiculous position, from which they were glad to escape with consist- be asked on this point, Are the people on the court side more united than on the other ? Are not the Tories, Jacobites, and Patriots equally determined ? What makes this strict union ? What cements this heterogeneous mass ? Party engagements and personal attachments. How- ever different their views and principles, they all agree in opposition. The Jacobites distress the government they would subvert ; the Tories con- tend for party prevalence and power. The Pa- triots, from discontent and disappointment, would change the ministry, that themselves may ex- clusively succeed. They have labored this point twenty years unsuccessfully. They are impa- tient of longer delay. They clamor for change of measures, but mean only change of ministers. In party contests, why should not both sides be equally steady? Does not a Whig adminis- tration as well deserve the support of the Whigs as the contrary ? Why is not principle the ce- ment in one as well as the other ; especially when my opponents confess that all is leveled against one man ? Why this one man ? Be- cause they think, vainly, nobody else could with- stand them. All others are treated as tools and vassals. The one is the corrupter ; the num- bers corrupted. But whence this cry of corrup- tion, and exclusive claim of honorable distinc- tion ? Compare the estates, characters, and for- tunes of the Commons on one side with those on the other. Let the matter be fairly investigated. Survey and examine the individuals who usually support the measures of government, and those who are in opposition. Let us see to whose side the balance preponderates. Look round both Houses, and see to which side the balance of vir- tue and talents preponderates ! Are all these on one side, and not on the other ? Or are all these to be counterbalanced by an affected claim to the exclusive title of patriotism ? Gentlemen have talked a great deal of patriotism. A ven- erable word, when duly practiced. But I am sorry to say that of late it has been so much hackneyed about, that it is in danger of falling into disgrace. The very idea of true patriotism is lost, and the term has been prostituted to the very worst of purposes. A patriot, sir ! Why, patriots spring up like mushrooms ! I could raise fifty of them within the four-and-twenty hours. I have raised many of them in one night. It is but refusing to gratify an unreasonable or an insolent demand, and up starts a patriot. I have never been afraid of making patriots ; but I disdain and despise all their efforts. This pre- tended virtue proceeds from personal malice and disappointed ambition. There is not a man among them whose particular aim I am not able to ascertain, and from what motive they have entered into the lists of opposition. I shall now consider the articles of accu>;iti