This is the He is traduced benefit of a people whom he has never seen. road that all heroes have trod before him. and abused for his supposed motives. He will remember, that obloquy is a necessary ingredient in the composition of all true glory: he will remember, that it was not only in the Roman customs, but it is in the nature and constitution of things, that calumny and abuse are essential parts of triumph. These thoughts will support a mind, which only exists for honour, under the burthen of temporary reproach. He is doing indeed a great good; such as rarely falls to the lot, and almost as rarely coincides with the desires, of any man. Let him use his time. Let him give the whole length of the reins to his benevolencc. He is now on a great eminence, where the eyes of mankind are turned to him. He may live long, he may do much. But here is the summit. He never can exceed what he does this day. He has faults; but they are faults that though they may in a small degree tarnish the lustre, and sometimes impede the march of his abilities, have nothing in them to extinguish the fire of great virtues. In those faults, there is no mixture of deceit, of hypocrisy, of pride, of ferocity, of complexional despotism, or want of feeling for the distresses of mankind. His are faults which might exist in a de scendant of Henry the Fourth of France, as they did exist in that father of his country. Henry the Fourth wished that he might live to see a fowl in the pot of every peasant in his kingdom; that sentiment of homely benevolence was worth all the splendid sayings that are recorded of kings. But he wished perhaps for more than could be obtained, and the goodness of the man exceeded the power of the king. But this gentleman, a subject, may this day say this at least, with truth, that he secures the rice in his pot to every man in India. A poet of antiquity thought it one of the first distinctions to a prince whom he meant to celebrate, that through a long succession of generations, he had been the progenitor of an able and virtuous citizen, who by force of the arts of peace, had corrected governments of oppression, and suppressed wars of rapine: Indole proh quanta juvenis, quantumque daturus Ille super Gangem, super exauditus et Indos, Fulmine compescet linguæ. This was what was said of the predecessor of the only person to whose eloquence it does not wrong that of the mover of this bill to be compared. But the Ganges and the Indus are the patrimony of the fame of my honourable friend, and not of Cicero. I confess, I anticipate with joy the reward of those, whose whole consequence, power, and authority, exist only for the benefit of mankind; and I carry my mind to all the people, and all the names and descriptions, that, relieved by this bill, will bless the labours of this parliament, and the confidence which the best House of Commons has given to him who the best deserves it. The little cavils of party will not be heard, where freedom and happiness will be felt. There is not a tongue, a nation, or religion in India, which will not bless the presiding care and manly beneficence of this. House, and of him who proposes to you this great work. Your names will never be separated before the throne of the Divine Goodness, in whatever language, or with whatever rites, pardon is asked for sin, and reward for those who imitate the Godhead in his universal bounty to his creatures. These honours you deserve, and they will surely be paid, when all the jargon of influence, and party, and patronage, are swept into oblivion. I have spoken what I think, and what I feel, of the mover of this bill. An honourable friend of mine, speaking of his merits, was charged with having made a studied panegyric. I don't know what his was. Mine, I am sure, is a studied panegyric; the fruit of much meditation; the result of the observation of near twenty years. For my own part, I am happy that I have lived to see this day; I feel myself overpaid for the labours of eighteen years, when, at this late period, I am able to take my share, by one humble vote, in destroying a tyranny that exists to the disgrace of this nation, and the destruction of so large a part of the human species. The debate continued till half past four in the morning, when the House divided on the question, that the Speaker do leave the chair: Yeas 217: Noes 103. So it was resolved in the affirmative. On the 8th of December the bill was read a third time and passed; and on the following day Mr. Secretary Fox, attended by a great number of members, presented it at the bar of the House of Lords. Up to the above period, no symptoms had appeared, at least to the public eye, that indicated the approaching fate both of the bill and its authors. Great pains, indeed, were taken, and with considerable success, by an almost incredible circulation of pamphlets and political engravings, to inflame the nation against the measures and the persons of administration; and it was also remarked, that in the House of Commons, several of that description of members, well known by the name of king's friends, gave their votes on the side of opposition. But it was generally imagined, that as, on the one hand, the ministry was too strong to be shook by the breath of popular clamour, so on the other, it seemed to the last degree improbable that they should have adopted a measure of such infinite importance, either without knowing, or contrary to the inclinations of the king. On the first reading of the bill in the House of Lords, Earl Temple, Lord Thurlow, and the Duke of Richmond, expressed their abhorrence of the measure in the strongest and most unqualified terms. A brilliant panegyric on Mr. Hastings was pronounced by Lord Thurlow, and the flourishing state of the Company's affairs insisted on. After a short debate relative to the production of papers, on which the lords in opposition did not choose to divide the House, the second reading was fixed for Monday, December 15th. In the mean time, various rumours began to circulate, relative to some extraordinary motions in the interior of the court. It was confidently affirmed, that on the 11th of December the king signified to the Earl Temple, who had been ordered to attend him in the closet for that purpose, his disapprobation of the India bill, and authorized him to declare the same to such persons as he might think fit; that a written note was put into his hands, in which his majesty declared, "That he should deem those who should vote for it not only not his friends, but his enemies; and that if he (Lord Temple) could put this in stronger words, he had full authority to do so." And, lastly, that in consequence of this authority, communications had been made to the same purport to several peers in the upper House; and particularly to those whose offices obliged them to attend the king's person. Some extraordinary circumstances, which happened on the 15th of December, the day of the second reading of the bill, confirmed the probability of the truth of these reports. Several lords, who had entrusted their proxies to the minister and his friends, withdrew them only a few hours before the House met; and others, whose support he had every reason to expect, gave their votes on the side of opposition. On the division, which took place upon a question of adjournment, the ministers were left in a minority of 79 to 87. On the 17th of December, Mr. Fox's bill was rejected by the Lords, on a division of 95 to 76. At twelve o'clock on the following night a messenger delivered to the two secretaries of state his majesty's orders, "That they should deliver up the seals of their offices, and send them by the under secretaries, Mr. Frazer and Mr. Nepean, as a personal interview on the occasion would be disagreeable to him." The seals were immediately given by the king to Earl Temple, who sent letters of dismission, the day following, to the rest of the cabinet council; at the same time Mr. Pitt was appointed first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer, and Earl Gower president of the council. On the 22d, Earl Temple resigned the seals of his office, and they were delivered to Lord Sydney, as secretary of state for the home department, and to the Marquis of Carmarthen for the foreign. Lord Thurlow was appointed high chancellor of Great Britain, the Duke of Rutland lord privy seal, Lord Viscount Howe first lord of the admiralty, and the Duke of Richmond master-general of the ordnance; Mr. William Grenville and Lord Mulgrave succeeded Mr. Burke in the pay-office, and Mr. Henry Dundas was appointed to the office of treasurer of the * navy. *The following is a list of the new administration: First Lord of the Treasury, and Chancellor of the Exchequer - Right Hon. William Pitt. never knew any one more fully possessed of this corporeal virtue of boldness than the young chancellor of the exchequer, who had dared to come into office by means the most disgraceful and unconstitutional; and who, in defiance of the respect due to the public and to that House, dared to persevere in remaining in his present situation, contrary to the sense of that House, which had expressly declared that they had no confidence in him. And yet he had the modesty to expect that the House should proceed to examine his bill! But, surely, he ought at least to have told them whether they were to be suffered to live long enough to discuss it, and either pass or reject it. They had, indeed, got assurances from day to day, but it little became the dignity of that House to live constantly by reprieves; if their death-warrant was signed, let them die; but if it was expected that the bill should be examined and debated with candour, let the terrors of a sudden execution be removed, for under them no freedom of debate could exist. * The motion was agreed to, and accordingly the bill was read a second time; but on the motion that it be committed, the House divided: Yeas 214: Noes 222. Mr. Pitt's bill was consequently rejected. * On the 24th of March the parliament was prorogued, and on the following day it was dissolved by proclamation. END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. Printed by A. Strahan, Printers-Street, London. |