UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 ANTICIPATION 
 
 OF THB 
 
 S P E E C H E S, Sec. 
 [PRICE TWO SHILLINGS.] 
 
 5242
 
 ANTIC IPATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SPEECHES 
 
 / 
 
 INTENDED TO BE SPOKEN 
 
 In the HOUSE of COMMONS, 
 On FRIDAY, MAY 4, 
 
 tJPON THE MOTION OF ALDERMAN NEWN- 
 HAM, RELATIVE TO THE AFFAIRS OF 
 THE PRINCE OF WALES. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for G. K E A R S L E Y, No. 46, Fleet-ftrf et. 
 M,DCC,LXXXVII. 
 
 [CntereU at Ration?*?'
 
 KEARSLEY has jujt Publi/hed, 
 
 [Price 43. Sewed] 
 
 A NEW EDITION CORRECTED, OF 
 
 LOVE AND MADNESS: 
 
 IN A SERIES OF LETTERS, 
 
 ONZ OF WHICH CON T A IKS THE 
 
 ORIGINAL ACCOUNT OF CHATTERTON. 
 
 GOVERNOR." Who did the bloody deed ?" 
 
 OKOONOKO. ' e The deed was mine. 
 " Bloody I know it is } and I expeft 
 " Your laws fliould tell me h. Thus, fclf-rondemn'd, 
 " I do refig-n myfelf into your bands, 
 " The hands of Juftice." Orooaokt. V. j.
 
 
 o 
 
 u= 
 
 53 2 
 ( 3 1 ^ 
 
 ^ANTICIPATION, &c. 
 
 FRIDAY, MAY 4, 1787. 
 
 5 ^| ^HE notice which Mr. Newnham 
 
 f 
 -- had given of his intended motion, 
 
 relative to the income of the Prince of 
 Wales, had filled the Houfe of Commons, 
 at four o'clock, with a greater number of 
 members than have lately attended their 
 parliamentary duty; and the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer appearing, as ufual, 
 about that hour, and the Speaker having 
 called to Mr. Newnham, the honourable 
 Alderman opened his intended motion 
 nearly in the following manner : 
 
 " Sir, I am concerned to find, by the 
 
 feveral anfwers of the Right Honourable 
 
 A 2 the 

 
 [ 4 ] 
 
 the Chancellor of the Exchequer relative 
 to thebufmefs of this day, that the welfare 
 and interefU of the heir of the crown 
 fhould be one duty of importance by 
 which the minifter can be charged with 
 a neglect at once derogatory to the dignity 
 of the crown, and the honour of the na- 
 tion. To repel an invitation to difcharge 
 a duty fo indifpenfable to his fituation, 
 by averting the neceffity of the royal 
 commands, is to feek a fanction from the 
 filence of the crown that renders the neg- 
 ligence more unpardonable. It is with 
 every fervent teftimony of loyalty, which 
 can be exacted from a member of this 
 Houfe, that I now rife to vindicate the 
 interefts of the nation in the eafe and 
 profperity of the Prince of Wales, and to 
 fupply, by the timely interference of par- 
 liament, a dereliction of his Highnefs's 
 IP 
 
 welfare,, difgraceful in the eyes of foreign 
 
 
 
 nations, and inglorious to this country. 
 
 f* As 
 I
 
 [ S ] 
 
 <r As one of the reprefentatives of the 
 metropolis, I hope to attain credit with 
 the Houfe for coming forward, in this 
 extremity, upon the refpeclable grounds 
 of the public wifh and the public inte- 
 reft ; and that thus to claim the regard 
 of the nation, for the happinefs of their 
 future monarch, will not be called a fly- 
 ing in the face of majefty. Sir, I bend 
 with every fubmiffion to the royal inten- 
 tion : but, under a filence of that in- 
 tention, I truft and I believe that it is 
 the peculiar province of this Houfe to 
 advife the crown in all cafes that mall 
 to them appear effential to the honour 
 and advantage of the nation. 
 
 " This abandonment of the interefts 
 
 of his Royal Highnefs, fo affimilated with 
 
 the daring and experimental quality of 
 
 the Right Honourable Gentleman's admi- 
 
 i niftration,
 
 r 6 
 
 uiftration, it becomes the peculiar duty 
 of this Houfe to prevent and to defeat, 
 by the motion I (hall have the honour to 
 fubmit to you, the fhameful obfequiouf- 
 nefs of minifters to fuppofed intention. 
 J fay, Sir, fuppofed intention, becaufe 
 where every argument, which can confift 
 with nature, reafon, and true dignity, 
 goes to unite the royal wiflies with thofe 
 of the nation, for the permanent happinefs 
 of the heir apparent, it is an infult to 
 majefty, to this Houfe, and to common 
 fenfe, to fuppofe an intention that fo ma- 
 nifeftly tends to abridge it. 
 
 <c I {hall however wave, Sir, for the 
 prefent, any further confideration of the 
 immediate caufe which draws upon my- 
 felf a tafk to which I am only confcious of 
 bringing into the fcale of parliamentary 
 debate, a zeal for the honour of the na- 
 tion,
 
 [ 7 1 
 
 tipn, and an unfeigned affection and re- 
 ipeft for the royal family. Independent, 
 therefore, of every other conficleration, 
 and impelled by that zeal of loyalty which 
 is congenial with every breaft in this 
 JJoufe, I fhall beg leave to reprefent the 
 affairs of the Prince of Wales as they ap- 
 pear by authentic documents. It will 
 appear how inadequate to the proper and 
 becoming eftablimment of his Highnefs, 
 js his prefent very limited income; and 
 when the Houfe fhall have duly confi- 
 dered the change which, with the in- 
 creafed wealth of this kingdom, the or- 
 dinary and expenfive appendages of his 
 elevated ftation have undergone, no for* 
 mer allowance to a Prince of Wales will, 
 in the prefent occafion, be drawn into 
 precedent: the ratio of expenfe," faid 
 Mr. Newnham, " has, in almpft every 
 article of ornament or neceflity, acquired 
 a new comparative ftandard, and pre- 
 cludes
 
 f 8 ] , 
 
 eludes all conclufions from the prudence 
 of our forefathers." Mr. Newnham then 
 ftated, with accuracy and clearnefs, the 
 particulars of his Highnefs's revenues, 
 and the amount of debts, " which," faid 
 Mr. Newnham, " had been incurred by 
 inexperience and generofity, and were 
 in a train of payment by the moft extraor- 
 dinary inftance of felf-denial that the pri- 
 vate hiftory of any country has recorded." 
 When the Honourable Alderman had 
 gone through this part of his fubjeft, 
 which he treated with great perfpicuity 
 and ingenuity of remark, he concluded 
 with _obferving that, (< as the Houfe was 
 now in pofleffion of the grounds upon 
 which the necefllty of the motion, which 
 he fhould have the honour to make, 
 retted, he would leave that neceffity to 
 make its way to the breads of honour- 
 able members." The Honourable Al- 
 derman 
 
 3
 
 . [ 9 ] 
 
 derman then made his motion nearly in 
 thefe words : " That as it appears to this 
 Houfe that the reduced ilate of the reve- 
 nues of his royal Highnefs the Prince of 
 Wales is inadequate to his high ftation, and 
 the due fupport of his proper ftate and dig- 
 nity, this Houfe will take the fame into 
 their mofl ferious confideration, and grant 
 fuch aid to his Royal Highnefs as the ne- 
 ceffity of his affairs require." 
 
 The motion was feconded by Lord 
 John Cavendim, who exprefied himfelf 
 highly gratified by having a motion of 
 fuch evident neceffity and importance 
 brought forward by the refpectable Alder- 
 derman and reprefentative of the chief 
 city of the kingdom. " The eafe and 
 profperity of his Royal Highnefs," faid 
 Lord John, " are very properly de- 
 nominated by the Honourable Alder- 
 B man.
 
 man, a very dear intereft of the nation ; 
 and it is a circumftance ftrange and unac- 
 countable, that the fituation of the heir 
 apparent of the crown fhould have been 
 hitherto unnoticed by minifters ; but this 
 Houfe," faid his Lordmip, " is not now 
 to difcover that the Right Honourable 
 Gentleman can, without other inftiga- 
 tions than thofe of whim and inexperi- 
 ence, fpeculate upon the practicabilities 
 of an overtaxed country, fubvert the an- 
 cient principles and refources of finance, 
 and heap upon the voluminous records of 
 the exchequer fchemes of taxation, diver- 
 fified with all the novelties of juvenile ex- 
 periment. Such tafks appear fo congenial 
 
 
 with the originalities of his administration, 
 
 that not to refcue an amiable and gene- 
 rous Prince from the dilemna in which 
 oppofing obligations had placed him, is 
 to prefer to the didates of national bene- 
 ficence
 
 ficence the exercife of public oppreffion. 
 When the Right Honourable Gentleman 
 had told the houfe, that a furplus of the 
 1,200,060!. remain unapplied in the Ex- 
 chequer, is it not palpable to demonftra- 
 tion," faid Lord John, " that this dere- 
 liction of his Highnefs's welfare, on 
 the part of the Right Honourable Gen- 
 tleman proceeds more from motives of a 
 private and malicious nature than from 
 any fancied duty to his country, or from 
 any other principle of ftate convenience, 
 than may be thought to refult from the 
 opprefiion of a Prince, whole independ- 
 ent mind can penetrate through the arti- 
 fices of minifterial compliance, and 
 embrace thofe whofe attachments to 
 his Royal Perfon and Family are as 
 notorious as they are fruitlefs. Nothing," 
 added Lord John, " can be more con- 
 vincing to my mind of the malicious 
 motives of the Right Honourable Gen- 
 B 2 tleman,
 
 tleman, by his uncommon difregard to 
 the accommodation of his Royal High- 
 nefs, than the vaft merit which that no- 
 ble Prince has obtained in the public eye, 
 by his retirement from his high ftation, 
 for the moft worthy of purpofes the pay- 
 ment of his debts ! a meafure that, when 
 confidered in its operations by encourage- 
 ment and example, cannot fail to form an 
 zra in domeftic ceconomy and pecuniary 
 degeneration ', objects, which the fatalities 
 of one paftime render more and more ne- 
 ceffary to fome of the firft families in the 
 kingdom." His Lordfliip concluded by 
 giving his moft cordial fupport to the mo- 
 tion. Mr. Pitt now rofe, and ftated briefly 
 that, as he felt the motion to be of a na- 
 ture difrefpeclful to the crown, he fliould 
 decline entering, unlefs compelled into 
 the object of the motion, and content 
 himfelf with the aflurance that his duty 
 
 would
 
 ( >3 ) 
 
 would be bed difcharged by moving the 
 order of the day. 
 
 Mr. Powis rofe and obferved, 
 Mr. Speaker, I (hall not trefpafe 
 long upon your time, but I mould hold 
 myfelf inexcufable were I upon this 
 occafion to give a filent vote. In a 
 queftion fo highly interefting to the body 
 of which I have the honour to be a 
 member, and to the country of which I 
 am a citizen, the exertion of my poor 
 abilities is a duty from which I cannot 
 exempt myfelf. As long as my voice 
 can be heard, will I warn you of the 
 impending danger, and urge my vaticina- 
 tion o: the alarming confequences of a- 
 dopting the meafure propofed. I am far 
 from impeaching the intentions of the 
 worthy Alderman who made the motion, 
 his underftanding has been the dupe of 
 his heart, the kindnefs of his nature has 
 2 led
 
 led him into the miftake. I do flatter 
 myfelf that the fame difpofition will in- 
 cline him to withdraw his motion when 
 he mall be convinced of his error: with- 
 out any further exordium let us come 
 to the point, and let gentlemen recoiled 
 that it will be impoffible for us to in- 
 creafe the Prince of Wales's revenue, 
 without becoming fliarers in his difgrace 
 and partners of his crimes. If he be 
 allowed to be profligate, (and who can 
 doubt it,) we fliall be confidered profli- 
 gate too; if he be extravagant, we mall 
 alfo be branded with extravagance; if he 
 be regardlefs of decency and good man- 
 ners, we (hall affift him in trampling 
 them under foot; if he deride the folem- 
 nity and loofen the holds of conjugal en- 
 gagements, we (hall fecure him impu- 
 nity; if he fly in the face of his coun- 
 try's laws, we (hc\\ enable him to in- 
 fringe them with effect; if he live in a 
 
 flate
 
 ( '5 ) 
 
 &ate of difobedience as a fon, we mall in- 
 fufe poifon in the cup, which he offers to 
 the lips of his parent: And are thefe 
 phantoms of the imagination, are they 
 Sir, wild chimaeras without foundation or 
 fubftance? No, Mr. Speaker Would to 
 God they were not realized by exifting 
 facts, by facts of univerfal notoriety. 
 Had it pleafed the Prince to be lefs 
 overt in his offences ; and, if he muft be 
 vicious, had he confined to a narrower 
 circle the effects of his vice, I fhould have 
 been the laft to publifti to the world tranf- 
 actions at which my foul fickens and 
 which I would fain forget for ever bat 
 no event is of greater publicity the 
 fun mines not upon a man in England 
 who is ignorant of the Prince's conduct. 
 And oh! what a conduct! he has dab- 
 bed the morals of the nation I fear be- 
 yond hope of recovery j he hc-s broken 
 down the barriers of propriety and order. 
 
 I am
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 I am not in my nature fevere there arc 
 many whom I rejoice to fee in their 
 places on this occafion, to whom I can 
 with confidence appeal : but not to be 
 roufed at a time like this, when an 
 offender feeks a flicker within our walls 
 who deferves to be punimed, when he 
 expects to find excufe for every crime 
 who ought to be incapable of any, and 
 from us, who ought to be moft impla- 
 cable, being mofl injured -, nay, afks re- 
 ward for his mifdeeds, would argue an 
 apathy and infenfibility to which I ac- 
 knowledge Mr. Speaker, I am a ftranger. 
 1 honour and obey my King, I love his 
 family} but, paramount to all other confi- 
 derations, I deem the duty which I owe 
 my country; when her interefts are 
 affeded I cannot be indifferent; when her 
 laws are violated, I muft complain j when 
 (he receives a wound, I bleed from my 
 heart. I fee all thefe things involved in 
 
 the
 
 ( '7 ) 
 
 the prefent queftion, and I therefore pray 
 and entreat the Houfe that they will not 
 difgrace themfelves, and injure the coun- 
 try who has chofen them her reprefen- 
 tatives, by agreeing to the prefent motion ; 
 as they will thereby invite every future 
 P ce of W s, who may happen un- 
 fortunately to be born with the fame 
 propenfities, to follow this P ce's exam- 
 ple. 
 
 Sir. J. Erfkine rofe, and addrefled 
 the houfe to the following effed. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, 
 
 I never rofe with fo ftrong a conviction 
 that the caufe I was about to defend was 
 the caufe of right, as I feel at this mo- 
 ment. It is the caufe of honour, the caufe 
 of juftice, the caufe of human nature it- 
 C felf.
 
 ( "3 ) 
 
 fclf. If my known attachment to the 
 Prince of Wales, be objected to me as a 
 difqualifying circumftance towards form- 
 ing a juft judgment on the fubject, let it 
 plead alfo forthe warmth, theagitation, the 
 anxiety which I experience in fupporting a 
 meafure fo near my heart. But why mould 
 it be confidered an impediment in fo plain, 
 fo obvious a queilion? A queftion which is 
 anfwered by every dictate of philanthropy, 
 which without partaking of metaphyfical 
 refinement, goes directly to the feelings of 
 every man. By them let it be tried. I do 
 not difclaim an appeal to the paflions: it 
 is fit they (hould be confulted, but it fhall 
 be my aim to intereft your paflions 
 through the medium of your judgment; 
 and if this can be effected, in all events I 
 pught to prevail. I confefs I am earneft 
 in the bufinefs. The walls of this houfe 
 \vould brand me with indifference were I 
 
 not
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 not moved to fee an amiable young 
 prince adorned by every accomplimment 
 which can perfect the manners, and dig- 
 nified by every quality which can recom- 
 mend the heart, his foibles and impru- 
 dence ferving but as a {hade to virtues, 
 which would otherwife mine too bright;--* 
 the heir apparent to the Britim empirej 
 to fee him I fay expofed to ridicule and 
 obliquy, by the ill-timed parfimony of a 
 Britifh parliament ; to obferve him thus 
 meritorious denied by a great people, the 
 
 indulgence which a good father would 
 
 \ 
 
 accord to an offending fon, to find him 
 reduced to a ftate beneath his rank j nay, 
 opprefled by the deadening weight of in- 
 digence without relief. -Is it not enough 
 to roufe the indignation and wound the 
 feelings of any but the moft obdurate foul 
 alive? Even fuch a one could not be indif- 
 ferent. I am fure I need not caution you 
 Sir, againft believing the vague and idle 
 C 2 rumours
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 rumours which ftalk about our ftreets 
 againft the Prince of Wales of his keep- 
 ing company with this and that de- 
 bauchee, of his continuing in a perpetual 
 ftate of intoxication, and of his negleding 
 the acquaintance of thdfe noble perfonages 
 who compofe the luftre of the other 
 houfe, and who are the beft qualified for 
 hisfociety. The bare relation of fuchftories 
 is fufficient to excite laughter and exclude 
 belief fo improbable in their nature, fo 
 fubverfive of the truth 1 You know Mr. 
 Speaker, and the greater part of the houfe 
 muft know, that the Prince of Wales not 
 only aflbciates with the nobility of this 
 country, but that he is cherifhed and be- 
 loved by them ; nor could that be the 
 cafe if, in the long catalogue of crimes 
 for which he is arraigned, by a fervile and 
 envious group of dirTembling court fyco- 
 phants, there appeared one founded and 
 eftablifhed which was inconfiftent with 
 
 a man 
 
 2
 
 a man of honour or a gentleman. To 
 believe it would reflect a degree of dif- 
 honour upon their lordfhips, which I hope 
 no member of this houfe can poffibly 
 attribute to them. But we have heard 
 a very impaffioned and declamatory ha- 
 rangue from a worthy gentleman, whofe 
 age did not promife fo mucn fire, and 
 from whofe character fo much acerbity 
 could not have been expected. I con- 
 gratulate the houfe on the difcovery they 
 have made of the nature cf his abilities, 
 and hope that before long we (hall fee 
 his warmth directed to a more proper ob- 
 ject. He has certainly attempted to prove 
 but one thing to day, in which to be fure 
 he has fucceeded ; but it feems to me 
 this might have been done with much 
 lefs trouble to himfelf and pain to the 
 houfe. He might have convinced us that 
 he was angry without the abufe of words, 
 afiaffination of epithets, and wafte of 
 
 time,
 
 time, by which his fpeech has been 
 diftinguifhed. I dare fay, he fondly con- 
 ceives that the philippic which he ha3 
 pronounced againft the unfortunate Prince! 
 of Wales, will prove fatal to his caufe^ 
 and carry conviction to the houfe that he 
 is not a proper object of their bounty. 
 But, good God, Sir, how is it potfible for 
 common fenfe fo to err, or human rea- 
 fon to be fo perverted ! Stripping the 
 gentleman's fpeech of its high-founding 
 ornaments and frenetic declamation, what 
 does it amount to! Argument wrought 
 in fallacy, and conclufion built upon er- 
 ror. Let us particularize. He tells us 
 that the example of the Prince of Wales, 
 has injured the morals of the nation, and 
 that he has broken down the barriers of 
 decency and good manners. Were we 
 fitting in a cenforial capacity, and trying 
 the Prince for any offence againft the laws 
 of morality, this allegation would be mod 
 
 properly
 
 properly and pertinently brought forward : 
 I mould in that cafe, have no difficulty in 
 pleading not guilty; and if the gentleman 
 could produce a fingle inftance of a vice 
 become more fafhionable, or a breach of 
 manners more tolerated now than before 
 the Prince became the object of public 
 attention, I wou'ddefiftfrom his defence. 
 But we are not trying the Prince of Wales, 
 or his merits would to God they might 
 be fairly and fully inveftigated. Diffident 
 as I am of my own ftrength upon that 
 ground, moft cheerfully would I meet the 
 fierctft of his aflailants, and upon the 
 iffue of the conteft would I reft my caufe. 
 This I take rather to be the point in 
 controverfy, whether it be not eflentialtq 
 the dignity of this country, whofe repre- 
 fentatives we are, to fupport the rank, to 
 maintain the honour, and to protect the 
 fame of the heir apparent of the Britifh 
 
 crown.
 
 crown, and, upon a ground of policy, 
 upon a ground of propriety, upon a 
 ground of duty, is it moft indifpenfable 
 in my opinion. For fuppofing the foibles 
 of the Prince to be as they are repre- 
 fented to be by the enraged gentleman 
 on the other fide of the houfe, derogatory 
 to the character of fo high a perfonage, 
 which would be, the wifer courfe, which 
 would become us more to plunge him 
 into defpair and hurry him on to ruin 
 by our feverity, or to reclaim him by our 
 liberality, to enable him to recover the 
 points which he has loft, and to erafe from 
 his efcutcheon the blots which may be 
 found there ? The intemperance of youth 
 never fails to be corrected by the folidity 
 of maturer years, but the abandonment 
 of hope is followed by an excefs of de- 
 pravity and almoft inevitably leads to de- 
 flrucYion. But, on the gentleman's own 
 fuppofition, the argument turns fo clearly 
 
 againft
 
 againft him, how much more fo will it 
 appear, when weconfideras we ought that, 
 inftead of being profligate, he is humane ; 
 inftead of immoral, compaffionate j and 
 that where he is reprefented as profufe, 
 his expenditures are in the caufe of bene- 
 ficence; that his ear is ever open to the 
 tale of the unfortunate, and his purfe to 
 relieve their diftreffes, that in his friend- 
 fhiphe is fincere, in his deportment affa- 
 ble, and that he never feels himfelf a 
 prince but when he is exerting the power 
 of doing good. I am aware that the 
 ftrongeft objection, which will be urged 
 this evening againft parliamentary inter- 
 ference to relieve the Prince's diftrefTes, 
 will be founded on the extreme delicacy 
 of the queftion on the relation which 
 fubfifts between his Majefty and the 
 Prince; but, without meaning a difloyai 
 or an irreverent idea that the father is inex- 
 orable to the fon, this is not a reafon that 
 D the
 
 the people of this country mould forget 
 their duty to the Prince of Wales : but, on 
 the contrary, if the King withold from 
 him a fubfiftence fuitable to his rank, it 
 becomes more neceffary and more indif- 
 penfable for us to provide for his exigen- 
 cies. I cannot perfuade myfelf yet en- 
 tirely to leave the fubjedt, though I am fen- 
 fiblethat I have already too long trefpafled 
 on the attention of the houfe ; [here a cry 
 of hear him, hear him, from the young 
 members in the houfe j] but I fhall con- 
 clude in a few words. When I confider 
 the magnanimity of the Prince of Wales, 
 in retiring from the fplendour to which he 
 had been accuftomed, of his retrenching 
 his expenfes and devoting one half of his 
 income to the payment of his debts; I 
 become an enthufiaft, and could never be 
 fatisfied with repeating and reurging his 
 claims to the attention of this houfe ; they 
 are traits which imprefs upon my mind 
 
 indelibly
 
 [ 27 ] 
 
 indelibly the brightnefs of his character, 
 and gold and jewels can add nothing to 
 its luftre. The worthy Alderman, who 
 brings the queftion now under your con- 
 fideration, has my warmed thanks for his 
 difintereftednefs and zeal upon the whole 
 of this bufinefs j they muft recommend 
 him to the admiration and efleem of all 
 good men. But this will not be his only 
 reward ; he will find an ample one in his 
 own reflections, an inexhauftible fource 
 of pleafure and Satisfaction will there be 
 opened to him, his confcience will reward 
 him, and peaceful will be that pillow 
 where refts the remembrance of actions 
 paft. 
 
 Sir James Erfkin having concluded his 
 very cordial harangue, was followed by 
 Mr. H B to the following pur- 
 port : 
 
 D 2 The
 
 (t The refpect, Sir, which I feel in 
 common with the Right Honourable 
 Gentleman would induce me to decline 
 entering upon relations which the worthy 
 Alderman and the noble Lord have 
 thought proper to advance ; but however 
 reluctantly I do it, it is put out of my 
 power to keep that feal upon my lips 
 which a fubject of this extreme delicacy 
 ought moil carefully to preferve. It is evi- 
 dent to my mind that neither the honour, 
 the intereft, northe inclination of hisRoyal 
 Highnefs, areconfulted on this day, by the 
 motion of the Honourable Alderman; for 
 to propofe the conduct of fo exalted a per- 
 fonage to theinquifltionofafree debate in 
 this Houfe, is to excite the expofition of 
 weaknefles, the publication of follies, and 
 the hiftory of one indifcretion myfterioufly 
 replete with every mifchief that can befal 
 the inconfiderate indulgence of pafiion. 
 The honour of his Royal Highnefs can- 
 not
 
 not therefore have been confulted by the 
 authors of this inquiry. As little have 
 they confulted his Highnefs's intereft 
 when they drag forward, in oppofition to 
 the rules of this Houfe, a queftion fo evi- 
 dently refting upon the option of the 
 crown to prevent. And ftrange indeed 
 muft be the infatuation to expert panegy- 
 ric to prevail in a difcuffion of thecaufes 
 of-his degraded fituation. Sir, it is pain- 
 ful to me to advert to a period when the 
 emancipation of his Royal Highnefs from 
 thefuppofed reftraints of a wife education 
 caft him into all the (hamelefs miferies 
 of debauchery, and the difgrace of un- 
 princely and profligate friendihips. The 
 moment of national impoverifhment could 
 not infpire a fingle dictate of patriotic 
 ceconomy, and, with all the improvi- 
 dence of delufion, the voracious fchemes 
 of gambling harpies, and the fafcinations 
 of beauty, plunged him into all the ne- 
 
 ceffities
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 cefllties of anticipated revenue. To ex- 
 pect redemption from that of the public, 
 were to defire the heavy and incumbent 
 preflure of national want, to be aggravated 
 by a load of debt rendered fliameful by 
 its creation, and ruinous to fuftain. So- 
 indifpenfable does it appear to me, Sir, 
 to the due difcharge of the duties of the 
 Right Honourable Gentleman's fituation, 
 and fo little confonant with every thing 
 which my own fituation, as a member of 
 this Houfe, renders obligatory to prefer 
 before any other intereft that of the pub- 
 lic, I do with the fulleft conviction of 
 the wifdom and true patriotifm of the 
 views of the Right Honourable Gentle- 
 man, give my moft decided negative to 
 -the motion of the Honourable Alderman. 
 
 Mr. Wraxhall, who had rifen feveral 
 times, at laft caught the eye of the 
 Speaker, and began a fpecch fomewhat 
 
 florid,
 
 [ 3' 1 
 
 florid, defultory, and continental, in which 
 we fhould in. vain attempt to follow him 
 pajfibus aquis but as nearly as the in- 
 tricacy of foreign names, terms, and con- 
 nections, will allow, a mere Englifh re- 
 porter, we think he exprefled himfelf 
 nearly in thefe words : 
 
 " Sir, when I compiled the hiftory of 
 the houfe of Valois, rendered fo eminent 
 by the ever-memorable names of Francis 
 and Henry, I could have been pleafed if, 
 in my refearches into the antiquities of 
 Gaul, I could have vindicated the race of 
 thofe princes from the barbarous origin 
 of the Franconian Goths, and the Scan- 
 dinavian anceftry of Attila the Hun. 
 The nil niji Cecropides, I have ever 
 thought a fevere, but a juft farcafm, of 
 Juvenal; and I am forry to fay that the 
 reigning monarch excepted, the princes 
 of the houfe of Bourbon, as of Valois, 
 
 have
 
 [ 3* 1 
 
 have little to boaft of perfonal or official 
 merit. Whatever my heroes have exhibited 
 of that nature, have, as in my own adven- 
 tures in Copenhagen, confifted principally 
 in acts of gallantry. Sir, though princely 
 inclinations of that fort were in more re- 
 mote periods of fociety detrimental to the 
 felicity of the fubject, I truft no argument 
 can be drawn from fo flmple a fact to 
 bear againft the motion of the Honoura- 
 ble Alderman. " One fwallow," Sir, 
 " does not make a fummer," The 
 amorous paflions are not neceffarily 
 connected with the moral or political du- 
 ties of fovereigns or of heirs apparent. 
 The Autocratrice of all the RufTias is a 
 princcfs of that notorious falacity, that I 
 am aflonifhed honourable gentlemen do 
 not advert to the political innocence of 
 fuch indulgencies. The allufion, Mr. 
 Speaker, may be thought extreme, and I 
 believe it is 5 for though Elizabeth may 
 
 be
 
 _ 
 
 be like MefTatina, laffata nonfatiatd y his 
 Koyal Highnefs has never been charged 
 with the indefatigable talent of a Maxi- 
 mus*. The political parallelifm of the 
 idea is what I wifh to imprefs upon the 
 :>bfervation of the Houfe. It will in- 
 lantly carry their imaginations towards 
 :he Kneifter^ where the ftimulus of am- 
 bition is feen to operate at Chsrfon, with 
 ill the dignified virulence of an offended 
 ind chaftifing fovereign. With the ve- 
 ocity of a coffack, this enterprifing 
 Czarina travels thoufands of miles to car- 
 y defiance to the very beard of the Turk.'* 
 VTr. Wraxhall was now interrupted by a 
 :ry of " the queftion, the queftion." 
 fc Do not gentlemen perceive," continued 
 ;his indefatigable traveller^ * { how imme- 
 
 * This emperor, when relating to his courtiers his 
 capture of 200 virgins, added, quorum undecim ana 
 Ptofie mm : and we fuppofe Mr. W. to have al- 
 luded to this anecdote. 
 
 E diately
 
 [ 34 ] 
 
 diately allied with the queftion is the very 
 brief circuit I have led the Houfe with 
 the mofl able, as the moft amorous, of 
 modern potentates; or muft I remind 
 them that a limilar difpofition, though it 
 rendered the ever-neceffitous Charles 
 hateful to a once-affectionate and long* 
 forbearing nation, will be no impediment 
 to a refloration of the French provinces, 
 by the enterprifmg arms of the prefump- 
 tive heir of George the third ? Omnia 
 vincit amor ! Sir, the Hyrcinian foreft, at 
 this day reprefented by the fmall, but 
 beautiful, foreft of Arden, unlike the de- 
 ferts of Siberia affords " Mr. Wraxhali 
 was again interrupted by a general cough- 
 ing, and vociferation of " queftion, the 
 queflion," fo he fmifhed rather abf aptly 
 by declaring that it was his intention, 
 had the patience of the Houfe permitted 
 him, to have taken a very ftiort compa- 
 rative,
 
 , r 35 i 
 
 rative, profpective, and retrofpective view 
 of the ftate of the royal families of Eu- 
 rope, and deduce from the moft authen- 
 tic teftimonies of his private correfpon- 
 dence and perfonal intimacy with all the 
 continental characters, orders, views, 
 fyftems, and practices, that the interpo- 
 fition of parliament was the only means 
 competent to effect the purpofe of the 
 motion of the Honourable Alderman, 
 and which he ihould fupport by his vote, 
 in order, by the way, he faid, to prove, 
 that whatever regret he felt by the ftrange 
 difconnection of this country with the 
 powers of the continent, but one other 
 fentiment or expreflion in the " fhort 
 review," bore the fmalleft trait of his po- 
 itical opinions or literary endowments, 
 
 Sir G y P e T r. 
 
 Sir, though I voted againft miniftry on, 
 the mop-tax laft month, yet, Sir, I mall 
 E 2 on
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 on this occafion vote with them, I think, 
 Sir, that no occafion can arife again, in 
 which I mall vote againft the Right Ho- 
 nourable Gentleman at the head of the 
 treafury, for I firmly and verily believe 
 that if any man in England can fave this 
 nation, it is the Right Honourable Gen-* 
 tleman; and I have the moft implicit 
 faith in his abilities} nay Sir, much more 
 than I have, even in my own, For Sir, 
 whenever I do not underftand the fubjecT: 
 of debate, as in the Iri(h proportions, or 
 lately in the commercial treaty, I always 
 rely on his talents, and never, I verily be* 
 lieve, was I once miftaken ; I mean, [here 
 a cry to queftion,] Sir, I afk pardon for 
 this digreffion. Sir, I agree with miniftry 
 that an addition to the income of his 
 Royal Highnefs ought not to be made ; 
 nay, Sir, I am of opinion that it would be 
 a very good fort of thing for fome gentle- 
 men of abilities to move that it is 
 l increafed, is increafing, and ought 
 
 to
 
 [ 37 ] 
 
 to be diminished" Sir, his Royal High* 
 nefs has 50,000 per annum. It is all a 
 faree, Sir, Lady P - ge and I the other 
 night, entered fully into the bufinefs, and 
 counted up the elegant things that this 
 would furnifh, [a laugh.] Sir, I am in 
 order, and in the underftanding of gentle- 
 tlemen, [here Mr. Dr ke called hear, 
 hear.] Calculation Sir, as my worthy 
 abfent friend Mr. Eden fays, is the ground 
 work of certainty and profit, and he al- 
 ways followed that; and, like myfelf, al- 
 ways had a book in which domeftic mat- 
 ters and the compound intereft of every 
 farthing was kept. Sir, on a calculation, 
 I can prove that houfekeeping may be 
 within 5000!. per annum, and here Sir 
 are my documents. [Sir Gregory here 
 produced a lift of houfekeeping expenfes, 
 &c. &c. with an advertifement out of 
 the General Advertifer, of block tin 
 kitchen furniture, all within the fum of 
 
 ten 

 
 '. ( 38 ) 
 
 ten guineas.] For thefe reafons Sir, and 
 becaufe the Right Honourable the 
 C r of the Exchequer thinks fo, I vote 
 againft the motion of the worthy Al- 
 derman. 
 
 Sir L d K n, Matter of the 
 
 " I am extremely happy, Sir, to find a 
 fpirit of economy begins to pervade this 
 Houfe, and infpire gentlemen with pro- 
 per confidence in its defence. I am a 
 plain man, to whom the advantages of an 
 early introduction into good company was 
 denied j and whom, indeed, I believe no 
 funfhine of profperity would ever be able 
 to warm into thofe little amiable atten- 
 tions that diftinguim fine gentlemen. 
 For my part, Sir, the boafted graces of my 
 Lord Chefterfield have few attractions 
 
 for me 5 and, indeed, Lady K n has 
 
 often
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 often told me that the luxury of clean 
 linen was an enfeebling indulgence, known 
 only to modern days j for I can well re- 
 member when Wednefdays and Sundays 
 were the days for miffing in Wales. And 
 this, Sir, brings me locally on the ground 
 of debate. I object to the motion of the 
 Honourable Alderman. The Prince of 
 Wales mall never have my vote for what 
 will promote the tendency to corruption 
 in this kingdom, and introduce into his 
 principality thofe luxuries under a want of 
 which I myfelf was bred, and in an ig- 
 norance of which I believe from my foul 
 the Welch at this day live very happily.'* 
 
 Mr. Martin, Mr. Le Mefurier, and Sir 
 Richard Hill rofe together, but the 
 Speaker bowing to Sir Richard, The 
 Honourable Baronet congratulated him- 
 felf, on having firft caught the eye of the 
 Speaker, and faid he trufted that what he 
 
 mould
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 mould have to adduce would be found to 
 deferve a precedence, as his objections to 
 the motion of the worthy Alderman 
 were derived from no point of party, 
 policy or politenefs to minifters, but from 
 the infpirations of purity; habits of dream- 
 ing,'* continued the Honourable Baronet, 
 " and the patience with which this 
 Houfe has formerly heard their interpre* 
 tations, perfuade me that whatever other 
 Honourable Members have to urge upon 
 the queftion, that no one will difpute 
 this truth : c that the encouragement of 
 habits of unrighteoufnefs is beneath the 
 dignity of Parliament/ Sir, I mean not 
 to impeach the morality of the worthy 
 Alderman, but he will give me leave 
 to aflert the wifdom of obeying the dic- 
 tates of a confcience, whofe purity is un- 
 contaminated by the affociations of 
 traffic and the interefted combinations 
 of debtor and creditor. In the county of 
 
 Salop,
 
 Salop refides no creditor of his Royal 
 Highnefs, no impatience is there di (co- 
 vered of a tardy payment of his princely 
 debts nor the fmalleft deiire to increafe 
 the pageantry of Carlton-houfe. Unani- 
 moufly do they exclaim ' Woe to the 
 land whofe princes eat in the morning 
 but blefTed is that land whofe princes eat 
 in due feafon for ftrength and not for 
 drunkennefs.' A voice from the gallery 
 here exclaimed, " I bet a tourte to an 
 olio de Prince wins." The Houfe, upon 
 inquiry, was informed that it proceeded 
 from Weltjie, who had fallen afleep, but 
 the Speaker having ordered him asapunifti- 
 ment, to keep awake during the remain- 
 der of the debate, Sir Richard conti- 
 nued " thofe religious texts, Mr. 
 Speaker, it highly befits the fuperintend- 
 anceof this houfe not to infringe, and to 
 fupply by their adoption of the motion of 
 the Right Honourable Gentleman; the 
 F fhameful
 
 (hameful negligence of the Archbifhop 
 of Canterbury and the fpiritual courts. 
 Sir, if my zeal as a Chriftian be exemplary 
 in this Houfe, my fenfc of duty to Lady 
 Hill, and the unbiased freeholders of the 
 county of Salop, (hall be inftantly evinced 
 to the fatisfaction of the Houfe. It is an 
 axiom coeval with the eftablifhment of 
 monafteries in Europe, that the duties of 
 life ought to be fubfervient to the rules of 
 piety and moral conduct, nor ought our 
 actions ever to fwerve from fuch a direc- 
 tion, for any gratifications that are not 
 connubial. For my own conformity to 
 this principle, I appeal to Lady Hill. 
 Sir, the agitations of my laft night's dream 
 were as detrimental to her repofg as the 
 vifion which occafioned them was omi- 
 nous of the defeat of virtue. I dreamt, 
 Mr. Speaker, that the uncontaminated 
 foul of Lady Hill had fullered the temp- 
 tations of the evil one - to fubvert tho& 
 
 practices
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 practices of purity, and privations of fen- 
 fuality, which the principles of a fmful 
 and contrite heart impofe upon the de- 
 fires of a frail and lafcivious nature. The 
 genius of temptation appeared to my afto- 
 nifhed fancy wreftling with the pious 
 partner of my bed; and I was waked 
 from the trance of furprife, by the plain- 
 tive voice of expiring virtue. " Come, 
 let us take our fill of love until the 
 morning, let us folace ourfelves with 
 loves." And after a fhort paufe my afto- 
 nifhed ears, Mr. Speaker, were affailed by 
 this wanton madrigal; - * 
 
 May this warm night, Sir Richard, be 
 Omen of grateful blifs to me, 
 
 Thou folace of my life ! 
 For ah ! how poorly dreams difcharge, 
 The duties due to both at large, 
 
 Your country and your wife. 
 
 As
 
 "'. f ;. ( 44 ) 
 As foon as the hubbub and laughter, 
 which this trait of Shropshire purity had 
 had occafioned, were over, the Honour- 
 able Baronet faid, "this wonderful re- 
 monftrance, Sir, though unreal end vifi- 
 onary, induced me inftantly to difcharge 
 
 one of the duties and I feel, I afTure 
 the Houfe, fcarce an inferior degree of 
 fatisfadtion in making this effort, to dif- 
 charge that which remains due to my 
 country and my political purity, by voting 
 with the Right Honourable Gentleman. 
 
 As foon as Sir Richard Hill had finifh^ 
 ed, Mr. Chamberlain Wilkes rofe to en- 
 gage the attention of the Houfe. 
 
 " Dreams," faid the Honourable Cham- 
 berlain, " we are told come from Jove j 
 and, were I now a member of the club- 
 rcom of Achilles, or of any of Homer's 
 heroes, and not a member of the Britifli 
 2 Par-
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 Parliament, I would be one of the firft 
 here to fubfcribe to the divinations of the 
 pious Baronet. But, Sir, as I am here a 
 member of parliament, and of courfe 
 among my brethren of this life, can come 
 little under the charge of divine grace : 
 as I dream as little as moft men, and 
 as I confefs that my dreams, when of the 
 ladies, are rarely pious or poetical, I 
 mud be allowed, in this place, and thus 
 fituated, to give my vote and deliber- 
 ations without a pretenfion to any mare 
 of preternatural infpiration. Sir, the lan- 
 guage which the Honourable Gentleman 
 has ufed to enforce his moralizing lay may 
 be fcriptural, but I believe gentlemen will 
 hardly deem it parliamentary. No man 
 is more an advocate for the breathings of 
 contrition, and the afpirations of devo- 
 tion, than I am no man more adverfe 
 to the wantonnefs of profufion no man 
 more imprefled with the obligations of 
 
 decency,
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 decency, and the fanc~t.ity*of focially mo- 
 ral obligations. Yet, Sir, I confefs I am, 
 on this occafion, impreffed with ideas 
 different from thofe of the Honourable 
 Gentleman, and am ready to meet him, 
 text for text, in fupport of the motion of 
 the Honourable Alderman. On an oc- 
 cafion fimilar, no doubt, to the prefent 
 has that eloquent preacher Ecclefiaftes 
 exclaimed, "Rejoice, O young man! in 
 thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee 
 in the days of thy youth, and walk in 
 the ways of thy heart, and in the fight of 
 thine eyes, becaufe a man hath no better 
 thing under the fun than to eat, drink, 
 and be merry." To fit filently down 
 amid fuch a clamour of over-righteouf- 
 nefs, and fuch an alarm of fophiftry, 
 would be pardonable if the fophiftry 
 confined itfelf to the playfulnefs of fpe- 
 culation lefs dangerous than ridiculous: 
 , Sir, when fallacy of argument is to 
 
 (land
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 ftand in the front of national proceed- 
 ings ; when the force of error is not only 
 to demolim abftract reafoning, but is to 
 fubvert the good fenfe of human con- 
 duct, and finally to triumph over the 
 dignity of this nation; I confefs that, 
 however I may, in endeavouring to 
 oppofe and confute, feel the inefficiency 
 of my abilities, I am convinced that I 
 (hall never have reafon to lament a con- 
 Icientious effort towards the difcharge of 
 the great duties that every man in this 
 country, and more efpecially every mem- 
 ber of parliament, owes his own charac- 
 ter, and the obligations of his conftituents. 
 This is a point, Sir, of that importance 
 in which the habit of filence to which I 
 am allied, both by diffidence and prin* 
 ciple, is to be furmounted -, and I mofi 
 heartily thank the Houfe for their indul- 
 gence to my effort towards a confcien- 
 tious difcharge of my duty in giving my 
 
 vote,
 
 ( 48 ) 
 
 vote, which I now do, for the motion of 
 the worthy Alderman." 
 
 The editor of this report was fo un- 
 fortunate as not to be able to procure the 
 written fpeech which the Chamberlain 
 difpatched to the prefs, and which we 
 hear was long, pious, verfatile, and ele- 
 gant. 
 
 As foon as Mr. Chamberlain was 
 feated, Mr. Courtney arofe, and began by 
 congratulating the Houfe upon that ftream 
 of light, that flood of intellectual efful- 
 gence, which he faid equally, on all 
 mighty and momentous occafions, iflued 
 from the pious and noble baronet; who, 
 like fome winged meffenger, pacing on a 
 meteor from the fkies, at once edified, 
 exhorted, eradiated, and aftonimed ! " He 
 has fo iuminoufly lightened o'er the point 
 in debate," continued Mr. Courtney, " and 
 
 fo
 
 . ' ( 49 ) 
 
 fo effectually , by his reafoning and elo- 
 quence, thundered away the clouds and 
 thick darknefs which feemed to involve 
 and invelope the Heir Apparent and the 
 throne, the Alderman, the Treafury- 
 bench, and the queftion, that now the 
 true complexion and real pofition of each 
 is palpable as a poft, and plain as a pike- 
 ftaff. 
 
 Sir, the noble Baronet has dreamt like 
 a fpirit of health againft a goblin d- d : 
 and notwithftanding the worthy and con- 
 fcientious Cham,berlain feems envious of, 
 and hoftile to, this Salopian vifion, and 
 is pleafed to fuppofe it more pious and 
 poetical, than pertinent or parliamentary, 
 in this opinion I muft. differ from him 
 entirely, eflentially, and toto ccelo. For 
 I will, contend and maintain the diametric 
 and direcl: converfe of the affertion, "pugnis 
 et calcibus ungulbus et roftro. And who 
 G will
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 will have the forehead to deny that this 
 tranfcendent dream of the devout Baro- 
 net is much more fenfible, folid, and fa- 
 tisfactory than the bafelefs fabric of many 
 a vifion, which the right honourable gen- 
 tleman has often reared within thefe walls. 
 Many patriots and heroes, Mr. Speaker, 
 have watched and waked for the common- 
 wealth and their pofterity ; nay, all this 
 did even a Roman goofe perform but 
 what patriot, or what goofe the noblt 
 Baronet only except ed, ever dreamt of fleep- 
 mg either for the folace of the fex, or the 
 good of their country ? 
 
 Here Mr. Courtney burft forth, as it 
 were by infpiration 
 
 Sir Richard is a patriot knight, 
 Who dreams fo wife and witty ; 
 
 He ought to dream both day and night, 
 And dwell in London City. 
 
 thither
 
 O thither fhou'd he once tranflate 
 
 His family from Salop ; 
 How would he cleanfe affairs of ftate, 
 
 Beyond a dofe of jalap. 
 
 With texts the worthy Chamberlain, 
 
 Might cram him to the chin, 
 And from his partner, might and main, 
 Expel the man of fin. 
 
 That Imp who on his pious head, 
 
 Eflay'd a lew'd incifion ; 
 To blemifh Lady Hill in bed, 
 
 A devil of a vifion ! 
 
 Of Mr. P -y's fpeech we fhall not 
 attempt a report; it was fervently de- 
 livered in favor of the motion, but the 
 unexpected, and fomewhat extraordinary 
 fpeech which Mr. S t thought fit 
 to make for the firft time, induces 
 us to contract, or be quite filent on the 
 fpeeches of feveral other hon. mem- 
 bers, Mr. Marfham, Sir Francis Baflet f 
 
 and Lord Mulgrave. Mr. S began 
 
 G 2 a fpeech
 
 a fpeech of confiderable length in a 
 very grave and folemn tone of voice, by 
 obferving, that he had had the honour 
 of a feat in Parliament for 27 years, and 
 not once during that period, had he 
 ever trefpafled on the time or patience 
 of the Houfe, or prefumed to offer his 
 opinion upon any, even the moft im- 
 portant occafian. His filence had pro- 
 ceeded as much, perhaps, from a fenfe 
 of propriety, as from any remarkable 
 \vant of abilities. He had always thought 
 there had been orators enough, and too 
 many pretenders to oratory, who wearied 
 and difgraced the houfe, and whofe 
 vain effufions, bad even when corrected 
 by fome reporter of debates, and when 
 delivered contemptible, ferved but to 
 fill the vacant columns of a daily paper, 
 He never had the vanity to fuppofe 
 he was one of that clafs, whole abi- 
 lities
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 s 
 
 lities would demand attention, or that 
 
 ; 
 
 he was poflefied of talents which it 
 would be an injuftice to his country 
 to conceal ; and to rife and make an 
 empty harangue merely that he might 
 be intitled to fend his fpeech to a 
 printer he deemed beneath him. It 
 
 had always been, faid Mr. S , his 
 
 practice to liften with the utmoft at- 
 tention to every debate on fubjedls of real 
 moment, and when he had improved 
 his judgment by the fuperior knowledge 
 of others, and difcovered truth from 
 the lights ftruck out by the claming of 
 oppofing parties, he, in iilence, gave a 
 vote, directed by the dictates of an ho- 
 neft heart, unbiased by prejudice or 
 party his constituents, he could proudly 
 declare, approved his conducl. If, con- 
 tinued the hon. member, he was not 
 blefTed with that fuperior endowment 
 
 of
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 of the mind which can decide on the 
 moft important occafions for itfelf, nei- 
 ther was he fo foolifh as to vote for 
 the worfl meafures when better were 
 pointed out to him. Thus had he 
 fupported indifferently, the meafures 
 both of miniftry and oppofitionj he 
 had oppofed men when he knew them 
 to err, without confidering that they 
 fat on this bench (the hon. member 
 pointed to the Treafury-bench), which 
 difpenfes rewards and honors ; he had 
 on other occafions fupported the fame 
 men though they were on that fide of 
 the houfe, where hope alone the hope 
 of change, fuftained them amid ft po- 
 verty and famine, nay, more, he had 
 braved, in fupport of what he was con- 
 vinced was right, the fcofF, the laugh- 
 ter, the ridicule, he might fay, the con- 
 tempt of all parties, and had given his 
 
 fingle
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 fcngle oppofing vote againft the fenti- 
 ments of the whole houfe j in this 
 manner he had performed what he ef- 
 teemed to be the duty of a reprefenta- 
 tive, whofe principles were good, though 
 his abilities were not great, and had 
 obtained neither place nor penfion for 
 himfelf, his friends, or relations. He 
 hoped the Houfe would excufe his dwel- 
 ling thus long upon the fubject of him- 
 felf ; what he had taken the liberty to 
 premife proceeded from no vanity, nor 
 a wifh to infult others, but to imprefs 
 a conviction on their minds, that this 
 his maiden fpeech, would be guided by 
 the fame principle as had directed his 
 filent votes. It was the vafl importance 
 of the fubject that then engaged the 
 attention of the Houfe, and of the whole 
 nation, and its fingular tendency, that 
 forced him to break that prudent filence 
 
 which
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 which he thought he fhould ever hav 
 maintained ; and though it was not his 
 lot to be endowed with thofe eminent 
 talents which many gentlemen had dif*- 
 played that night, yet as he fpoke on 
 a fubjedt which demanded little of the 
 arts of oratory, he truited he might 
 expeft their attention. Political know- 
 ledge, faid Mr. S 1, the fcierice of 
 
 government, the arts of legiflation, were 
 the refult of ftudy, and required talents 
 \rhich every one did not poflefs , but the 
 fentiments of right and wrong were 
 implanted in the breaft of every man, 
 and the mod common understanding was 
 fufficient to difcriminate between vice 
 and virtue, folly and wifdom, infamy 
 and decency. It was this common un- 
 derftanding in a man, in whom neither 
 the famion of the age, rior the cry of 
 a party had deilroyed that fenfe of de- 
 cency,
 
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 cency, nor levelled the diftindion be- 
 tween an honourable and reprobate con- 
 dud:, that induced him to declare thus 
 openly, the grounds of the vote he mould 
 that night give, and the reafons of his 
 differing fo widely with the fentiments 
 of fome gentlemen who had fpoken with 
 an enthufiafm worthy of a better caufe. 
 The motion that had been made by the 
 worthy Alderman, and he was forry to 
 fay feconded and fupported by great 
 characters, and great abilities, was, that 
 
 an addrefs be prefented to his M to 
 
 order an enquiry into the affairs of the 
 Prince of Wales, and relieve him from 
 his embarraffed fituation. He would 
 allow, he faid, that the reduced revenues 
 of H. R. H. were inferior to his high 
 and exalted rank, and inadequate to the 
 fupport of his proper dignity. But ber 
 fore gentlemen came to a deciiion on 
 H that
 
 ( 58 ) 
 
 that motion would it not be proper, 
 would it not better become the office 
 and dignity of that Houfe to afcertain 
 what title H. R. H. had to their inter- 
 ference, what claims upon their bounty ? 
 if he had any, the motion mould have 
 his hearty aflent, but mould it appear 
 that he had forfeited all title to their 
 extraordinary fervices, all claim to their 
 extraordinary bounty, it would certainly 
 confift with the constitutional dignity 
 of that Houfe, to declare to the world, 
 by adopting the motion of the right 
 hon. gentlemen, their fentiments of his 
 adlions. For his part, he would boldly 
 .declare, and it would be in his opinion, 
 a treachery to his country if he did not 
 that the conduct of H. R. H. met with 
 his moft decided condemnation. He 
 would briefly ftate the grounds of his 
 difapprobation, and the reafons which 
 
 had
 
 |f < 59 ) 
 
 had influenced his mind in fuch a 
 
 judgment. The conduct of a P 
 
 of W , faid Mr. S , is not to 
 
 be weighed in the fame fcale with that 
 of any other individual fubject in this 
 kingdom. It was not, he faid, more 
 trite than true, that the higheft ftations 
 were thofe, in which folly and vice were 
 the moft blameable, becaufe their effects 
 were more ruinous and dreadful by their 
 diffufion. If a man in private life 
 chofe to plunge into excefTes of every 
 kind, if he wafted his fortune in low 
 and indecent pleafures, if he abandoned 
 every principle of generous pride, and 
 degraded himfelf by familiarities with 
 undeferving inferiors, if he treated with 
 neglect and difdain, thofe to whom he 
 owed his being, and whom he was 
 bound by every tie of nature, and every 
 obligation of decencf to reverence and 
 H 2 obey,
 
 ( 60 ) 
 
 obey, what was this to the public ? it 
 hurt not them. Such a man would 
 be contemptible, but his example was 
 not dangerous ; he fuffered himfelf alone 
 he wafted his eftate was deferted by 
 his companions difinherited by his fa- 
 mily, atoned for the follies of his youth 
 by the fufferings of his age, and perhaps 
 was of fome fervice to fociety by th& 
 force of his example, in deterring others 
 from the path of vice and indecency ; 
 
 but, faid Mr. S , when the neglect 
 
 of that duty whkh a man owes to him- 
 felf, extends beyond the fphere of his 
 own mifery, when the greatnefs of hi s 
 example, by giving a fanction to vice, 
 depravei the manners and principles of 
 a country, attacks the very foundations 
 of fociety, and deftroys that happinefs 
 which the prevalence of morality and 
 ?irtuc can alone beftow fuch a man 
 
 ceafe*
 
 ceafes to be an object of contempt alone 
 he becomes odious and dangerous, 
 and his conduct is the proper fubjedt 
 of public animadverlion and inquiry. He 
 might be afked, to what did thefe re- 
 flections tend ? did they apply to a man 
 on whom nature had beftowed every 
 virtue, every grace, every kindly affec- 
 tion, every great and good quality of 
 the head and heart a ftandard of mo- 
 rality, a phenomenon of genius, the ar- 
 biter of wit and elegance, the ornament 
 and delight of human kind ? Thus had 
 he fometimes been reprefented. It 
 might be the proper bufmefs of orators, 
 and at times, perhaps, of party, fo to 
 embellifli vice : it became a plain man 
 to exhibit it in its naked deformity. If 
 there were any vice, which more pecu- 
 liarly than any other rendered a man 
 contemptible in fociety, and miferable 
 
 to
 
 ( 62 ) 
 
 to bimfelf, which wafted every power 
 of the human frame, deftroyed every 
 faculty of the mind, and deprefled him 
 below the level of his fpecies, it certainly 
 was inebriety. He would ailc Hon. 
 Gentlemen, did they think fuch a cha- 
 ra&er defervingof applaufe, orofcenfure? 
 there could be but one anfwer. What 
 
 then would they fay of a P , a 
 
 guardian of the national manners, who 
 gave countenance to fuch a vice by his 
 example, who, in violation of all de- 
 cency was not afhamed to be feen reel- 
 ing through the ftrects of the capital. 
 That this was a truth, he would ap- 
 peal to every waiter of every tavern, 
 
 who daily faw the H to the C , 
 
 the man who was at fome future time 
 (and he prayed to God that time 
 might be far diftant) to govern the 
 
 realm, and be one of the firft among 
 
 , 
 the
 
 the rulers of the earth, in thofe difgrace- 
 ful moments of intemperance and folly. 
 
 Such a fcene, faid Mr. S , it might 
 
 be thought was the laft effort of in- 
 decorum but one folly was generally 
 the parent of another, and a greater : 
 the violation of every principle of pro- 
 priety, of all fenfe of dignity was not 
 yet complete, and the riot of a tavern, 
 and the public exhibition of intempe- 
 rance was to be crowned by the infamy 
 
 of a b 1. Such was the progreffion 
 
 of vice ; and in thofe fcenes of meretri- 
 cious enjoyment, where the mind was 
 debafed, and the body corrupted, this 
 
 exalted P had not fcorned to be an 
 
 aftor. But this, it might be faid, was 
 the error of youth, when the inexpe- 
 rience of what was right, excufed the 
 commiffion of what was wrong. In 
 this laft inftance it might be fo but 
 
 the
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 the quid decet, faid Mr. S-~ is not 
 the refult of experience ; but the con- 
 ftituent of honour, and the foul of virtue* 
 Would to God, continued the Hon. 
 Member, there were no room for cenfure ! 
 the fubjedl was delicate the intereft 
 was dear he knew not how to touch 
 upon it but a connexion myfterious 
 
 . unintelligible reprobated by the 
 
 people whether with reafon or not he 
 would not pretend to determine and 
 which excited alarms perhaps ground- 
 lefs alarms, for their religion their 
 quiet peace and happinefs a con- 
 nexion imprudent in its formation, 
 illegal in its exiftence and to fuffer it 
 to continue unpublished, or unexplained, 
 is to fhew a contempt of the cry of the 
 nation the opinion of the world. 
 
 It was a painful tafk, continued Mr. 
 
 S , to defcend to the detail of the 
 
 vices
 
 ( 65 ) 
 
 Vices or follies of any man, and mufl 
 be as difgufting to the Houfe as he 
 declared it was to himfelf but if the 
 expofition were hateful, the concealment 
 would be treacherous his fenfe of duty 
 to his country fuperfeded his objections, 
 and he could not fhrink from the tafk- 
 If the Houfe already felt with him upon 
 
 the queftion, flill more Mr. S faid 
 
 he believed they would have reafon to 
 cenfure his R. H. for the choice of his 
 companions and his friends. Who were 
 thefe ? the palaces to which his birth 
 had given him admittance fupplied not 
 one the houfes of the nobility were no 
 longer the afylum of a difobedient fon 
 
 the happy refuge of a deferted P , from 
 
 thefe houfes he could not collect a friend 
 one hateful caufe had profcribed him 
 from the amity of patriot hearts and 
 he was fain to turn to the refufe of im- 
 I morality,
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 morality, to find an arm to fupport 
 him through the ftreets. But mould he 
 feek a friend, a friend of the bofom, 
 
 " where are we" (exclaimed Mr. S > 
 
 apparently warmed with his fubjeft,) 
 " to find him !" if it were the Right 
 Hon. Gentleman (faid Mr. S , point- 
 ing to Mr. F ) the nation might not be 
 without hope but if a foreigner, a 
 man who was a dishonour to his country 
 and a difgrace to human nature, a rare 
 example of all that was bafe and vicious^ 
 without one good quality of the head or 
 heart, to palliate or excufe his vice : if 
 fuch a man were to be called the friend 
 
 of the H a 1 of the C , would 
 
 not its condition be miferable, its fortune 
 without hope of future glory ? The fci- 
 ence, the genius, the wit of fome men 
 caft a veil over their follies, and made us 
 willing to forget them ; but the fenfuality 
 
 of
 
 of this man was rendered more deteftable 
 by its grofsnefs and inelegance. If it were 
 that delufion of a refined tafte of plea- 
 fure, of the eruditi /uxus, which charadte- 
 rifed fome men in that houfe, it might 
 be pardonable, but it was that of an 
 abandoned, brutal debauchee, with- 
 out decency, without elegance, without 
 the manners or the principles of a 
 gentleman. The Hon. Member faid he 
 was forry to be compelled to ufe terms as 
 grofs as the vices they were intended to 
 defcribe, and to cenfure -, but it was una- 
 voidable ; fuch was the character of the 
 perfon he was fpeaking of, that his own 
 countrymen, as remarkable for the polite- 
 nefs and decency of their manners, as for 
 the fervile refpecft they paid to rank and 
 power, never mentioned his name, with- 
 out violating the national chara&eriftic, 
 I 2 and
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 and attaching the appellation of Black 
 
 to the title of 
 
 Much praife had been laviQied upon 
 his . - -, for the elegance of his 
 occupation, for his cultivation of the 
 fine arts, and for the protection he 
 extended to men of genius, but the 
 plaudits of flattery, and the echo of 
 parafites, were not the mirror of truth. 
 One would think, by their report, that 
 every mufe dwelt within the walls of 
 his palace, In his opinion, a P< 
 fhould be fomething more than the 
 arbiter of drefs or famion, the hero of 
 a dance, or the leadej of a concert. 
 Purfuits which might be amiable and 
 laudable in private men would only detract 
 from royalty $ and for his part, he would 
 
 * The French word PoJi/on, is rather more 
 decent. 
 
 rather
 
 ( 69 ) 
 
 rather fee a P employed in tho 
 
 fludy of the laws, the cuftoms, the 
 conftitution of that country he was born 
 to govern, than in producing difcordant 
 notes from a * { viola di gambo." 
 
 After a variety of other obferva- 
 tions, which it is needlefs (or rather 
 which we are afraid) to report, Mr. 
 S. faid he would no longer trefpafs on 
 the patience of the houfe; he conjured 
 
 them, if the conduct of the P 
 
 appeared to them in the fame colours 
 of depravity as it was beheld by his 
 eyes, he would conjure them to declare 
 their cenfure of it, by voting againil 
 the motion of the worthy Alderman j 
 for, faid he, the welfare or mifery of 
 the country might depend on the de- 
 cifion of that night. If his H had 
 forfeited the affection of the people, it 
 was of the higheft confequence that he 
 
 mould
 
 f 7 ) 
 
 fhould know it. But from whom? 
 Would the fycophants who furrounded 
 him > would fadtion which made an 
 handle of his defects 5 would the good, 
 
 the virtuous in the rude fince- 
 
 cerity of Gallic friendmip, whifper this 
 momentous truth in his ear ? No. From 
 that houfe alone would he be informed 
 of it, and the time would come when 
 H. H. would thank him for the cen- 
 fure which tends to reinftate him in 
 the affections of the people. Mr. S. 
 concluded by obferving the part he had 
 taken in the debate of that night, 
 might incur the odium of many, both 
 within and without doors ; every fup- 
 porter of v e, every fcavenger of 
 oppofition would load him with ob- 
 loquy ; he heeded it nothe had lived 
 to fee the day when a fingle vote was 
 no longer ridiculed, nor a Keppel deem- 
 ed
 
 ( 7' ) 
 
 cd the faviour of his country j the 
 time too he hoped would come, when 
 the cenforial office of this houfe mould 
 chaflife the vices of a 
 
 Mr. Fox inftantly rofe, and proceeded 
 in a fpeech of conliderable length, whofe 
 warmth of language, energy of argu- 
 ment, variety and brilliancy of thought, 
 and fire of delivery we attempt not to 
 follow. Sorry we are, that the limits 
 of memory will commit to the public 
 eye a difplay fo little like the eloquent 
 cfFufions of that great matter of ora- 
 tory, in a caufe in which he feemed 
 infpired by the dignity of truth, the 
 force of conviction, and the feelings of 
 friendfhip. Mr. Fox proceeded fome- 
 what in the following manner : 
 
 S IR,
 
 ( 7* 
 
 SIR, 
 
 When I came down to this houfe, i 
 was with the greateft confidence in the 
 merits of the caufe, which I have heard 
 fo ably fupported by my honourable 
 friends. Sir, I expected the oppofition 
 of adminiftration, for I was well convin- 
 ced that the fyftem of error, that has been 
 the rule of their conduct, would on this 
 occafion, not want the confiftency, that 
 denies by obftinacy, all admiffions of truth 
 and conviction. But I did not expect to 
 hear from them, or from any gentlemen, 
 that torrent of grofs abufe, and that cla- 
 mour of calumny -, that perfecution of 
 malice and of mifreprefentation from 
 which it falls to my fhare, in common 
 with other friends of opprefled magnani- 
 mity, to vindicate the character and vir- 
 tues of his R 1 H . The honour- 
 able gentleman, who has jufl fate down, 
 
 > has
 
 ( 73 ) 
 
 has gone much at large into a variety of 
 points, which I could not have forefeen 
 would this night have been agitated ; 
 which, I neither deemed fubjecl to criti- 
 cifm, nor at all decent objects of its 
 ftric"lures I give the fulleft credit to 
 the fincerity and honefty of the Hon. 
 Gentleman's motives, and though I pro- 
 fefs not to equal his warmth of language, 
 I truft a candid inveftigation of his fpe* 
 culations, and of the novelty of his 
 political ethics will convince us, that 
 warmth, however a proof of fincerity, 
 is not always fo of accuracy, and that the 
 beft intentions, and the moft honeft zeal 
 will hardly compenfate their mifdirec- 
 tion and fubferviency to inhumanity and 
 unmanly deiigns. With an acrimony 
 better fuited to cenfures of the moft 
 flagrant criminality has the Hon. Gen- 
 tleman defcended to the minute fchemes 
 
 K of
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 of youthful gratification; and with a 
 fidelity that looks fomewhat like malice, 
 has he fcented out every pathway of 
 amufement or pleafure, that his R 
 H ' ever trod. The extravagance of 
 
 the P of W is a fubjedlt that de- * 
 
 mands lefs the liberal tolerance of the 
 man of fentiment andfafhion, than a can- 
 did attention to certain great fadts, in the 
 
 exiftence of which his R * H is 
 
 not anfwerable, as they are independent 
 of him. It is true, Sir, that when we 
 
 compare the income of his R H , 
 
 with the income of moft of the nobi- 
 lity of this country, we {hall find it 
 greatly fuperior : but in taking a view of 
 the merits of this queftion, we muft 
 place its fubjed matter, in all the relations 
 and fedions, which the peculiar cha- 
 
 radter of the P of W defcribes. 
 
 When we draw our eft i mate from the 
 
 royalty
 
 . ( 7S } 
 
 royalty annexed to the character of his 
 R. H. when we fee his dignity, his 
 fplendor, his magnificence, and the 
 elevated character he bears in the national 
 perfpective, all intimately blended with 
 the dignity, the fplendor, and magni- 
 ficence of this country; when we feel 
 that his rank is a part of the conftitution 
 of the government of England 5 that 
 he is a great political character ; that 
 agreeably to the conftitution of the 
 country, which he is one day to govern, 
 an antedated fpecies of royalty, annexed 
 to his mode of living ; that he has a 
 court I mean that he had a court ! 
 whofe various official deputies are not 
 to be difgraced by the penury of a mean 
 and ignoble accommodation j where 
 we fee and feel this, we mail, Sir, be 
 better enabled to appreciate the relative 
 value of his allowance, with the objects 
 K 2 which
 
 ( 76 ) 
 
 which its expenditure embraces. In 
 this difcufiion it will be neceflary to 
 foriake the narrow pathway in which 
 a private individual treads the *' noifelefs 
 tenor" of ceconomy, and mount our 
 ideas into the higher region of grandeur, 
 in which his R. H. is detlined to move. 
 In the firft inftance, the cottage may be 
 feledted as the object of choice, and the 
 difpofition may indulge itfelf at will and 
 at eafe in its peculiar bent j its accom- 
 modation of mode is an eflential part of 
 the act of existence : it may purfue, within 
 its narrow and unobferved fphere of action, 
 all the various humours that diverfify hu* 
 manfociety and deportment in the elegance 
 of a proportionate expenditure, or in the 
 retirement of a fullen feclufion $ but a 
 P. of W. is bound in a (kftiny of gran^ 
 deur, which, as it is not an object of 
 choice, fo peither can its neceflary re^ 
 
 latioris
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 lations be the fubject of cenfure. We 
 fhould be at a lofs to diicover the fource 
 of fo much honeft error, as the Hon. 
 Gentleman has difplayed to-night, did 
 \ve not reflect that he, with many other 
 country Gentlemen, may have received 
 his impreflions of diffipation and extra- 
 vagance poflibly in a fcene . of academic 
 abridgement, or in the feverer fchool 
 of domeftic restriction. A mind long 
 habituated to the routine of rural 
 (Economics, which, from a ftate of 
 infancy, the practice of near and valued 
 relatives may have endeared ; accuftomed 
 in the retirement of provincial regularity, 
 to fcan with a fcrutiny rather accurate 
 than enlarged, the various fcenes of 
 famionable life to which it is a ftranger ; 
 and to meafure th e degrees of enjoy- 
 ment rather by the cheapnefs and faci- 
 lity with which they may be attained, 
 
 th a.n
 
 than by the elegance with which they 
 may be difplayed. Such a mind, Sir, 
 under thefe impreffions, and this dif- 
 cipline, might ftartle at expences to 
 royal magnificence, to which it had been 
 unufed, or which, when made the object 
 of contemplation, were at the fame time 
 the fubjecl: of its lamentations. Such a 
 mind would be led to eftimate the 
 meafure of expenditure by the fcale of 
 neceffity, and, from its own fubdued 
 afpirations after grandeur, be cynically 
 prone to ftamp as extravagant whatever 
 gratifications its own tafte had not clafled 
 among the luxuries of life. It would 
 miftake the decorations of tafte for the 
 caprice of idlenefs, and draw its eftimate 
 of an enlarged generofity, from the 
 value it had been accuftomed to affix 
 to the wantonnefs of profufion. 
 
 In order to form a juft idea of men 
 
 and
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 and their condudt, it is candid, it is com- 
 mon juftice to view them as adting re- 
 latively to their peculiar fituation. View 
 his R. H. under this impreffion, try his 
 conduct as to his expences, by the obli- 
 gations refulting from his fituation, and 
 I will be bold to aflert, that however 
 fome years of his expenditure may have 
 exceeded his income, the excefs was oc- 
 cafioned more by the generofity incident 
 to a young mind of the moft ample en- 
 dowments and moft fplendid expecta- 
 tions ; by an inexperience that is exclu- 
 fively the companion of unfufpecling 
 magnanimity, than by a wantonnefs of 
 extravagance, or an abandonment of de- 
 cency. 
 
 At the time when his R. H. came of 
 age, a large fum muft have been fome- 
 where it ought to have been in his trea- 
 fury arifing from his principality. To 
 
 this,
 
 this, as P of W , he was un- 
 doubtedly intitled. The wifdom of our 
 anceflors deemed a certain degree of mag- 
 nificence neceflary to the heir Ap t of 
 the B Th e. Arguing with great 
 good fenfe from the paffions and feelings 
 of private perfons to thofe of royal per- 
 fonages, they judged rightly, as they felt 
 generoufly, that the tranfition from the 
 
 fituation of fubjecl:, as P of W to 
 
 that of Mon h, fhould not form too 
 
 powerful a contraft in the fituation left 
 and that fucceeded to. They knew 
 that royalty, with all its fafcinating 
 aflemblages of fplendor, power, and 
 influence, would dazzle a mind unac- 
 cuftomed to its rays, and they therefore 
 made the eftablimment of the Heir 
 
 Ap 1 correfpondent to the dignity 
 
 pofleiTed, and to the fituation anticipated. 
 I appeal to the knowledge of this 
 
 Houfe t
 
 Houfe, whether the revenues of which 
 I have fpoken, are not deftined by law as 
 1 - have ftated -, whether they have been , 
 applied agreeably to fuch deftination * 
 and I appeal to their fenfe of juftice, 
 whether they ought not to have been 
 appropriated to the eftablifhment of his 
 
 R H . They have not been 
 
 appropriated to his funds. They have 
 been fvvallowed in the vortex of royal 
 mortmain 5 they have been diverted from 
 that channel in which they would have 
 nourifhed the virtues of generofity, cha- 
 rity, and a bountiful munificence, to 
 fwell the tide, already too powerful, that 
 overflows the banks of r 1 influence. 
 Here, Sir, I make no plea to the gene- 
 rofity of this houfe; but a plea, ju ft, 
 conftitutional, and founded in no refin- 
 ing fentiment, but in the principles of 
 common honefty^and juftice, which give 
 L to
 
 ( 82 ) 
 
 to every one his due : from this ground 
 it is, I dare expect an addition; from 
 
 this.it is I demand for his R H 
 
 an indemnification for the abufe of his 
 rights. 
 
 When I take a view of the reafons and 
 progrefs of that fuppofed extravagance 
 which has been fo animatedly handled 
 this night, and fo glaringly held for- 
 ward to countenance, a breach of jufticc, 
 difgraceful to Ad n ; I confefs I am 
 at a lofs whether moft to admire and ap- 
 plaud that very conduct fo warmly ftig- 
 matized, or to wonder at the blindnefs 
 and malice of thofe who cenfure it. The 
 anticipation of the revenues of his R 
 
 H , is a fubject that calls for the 
 
 mofl open difcuffion ; and the acceffion 
 to certain political tenets, is involved in 
 it, that I never expected would meet the 
 ninds of gentlemen on that fide of the 
 
 houf
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 houfe. It involves in its reafons and 
 caufes fome great traits of political defign 
 which when clofely viewed and purfued 
 in their confequences, will, I truft, be 
 not the objects of prefent pleafure and 
 eulogium only, but furnifh a profpect of 
 His R. H.'s character that will one day 
 be the theme of national exultation. It 
 has been the fate of moft of the K gs of 
 England to receive their education ex- 
 tremely behind the curtain of human life. 
 In a ftate of almoft monaftically reclufe 
 grandeur they have remained unacquainted 
 with mankind. It is little to be won- 
 dered at that fuch frequent inftances 
 ihould occur in our hiftory of their abufe 
 of the rights among which they had never 
 actively mingled; and that the temper 
 and political mind of the S - n ftiQuld 
 receive certain impreffions unfriendly to 
 freedom and incorrigible by experience. 
 L 2 The
 
 The education of his R. H. is as new in 
 
 its plan as it will be found falutary in its 
 effects on its future political life. In its 
 more advanced ftage it was conducted, not 
 on the principles of whofe operations an 
 unacquaintance with life and men was a 
 natural cbnfequence. Not {hut up within 
 that repulfive and fallen dignity of ftate and 
 feclufion that eft ranges the monarch from 
 the man, and which, by keeping him igno- 
 rant of others, deprives him of himfelf, we 
 have feen his Royal H. mingle a cultiva- 
 tion of the philofophy of human manners 
 with the ideas and purfuits of his exalted 
 ftation. " Felices illos quorum Jides et induf- 
 tria non per internuntios et interpretes, fed 
 'ab ipfo, nee auribus, Jed ociilis, probantitr" 
 A degree of popularity, unknown to 
 the education of our princes, was blended 
 with the ancient fyftem, which, when 
 adhered to, was found to be at- 
 tended
 
 ( 85 ) 
 
 tended with a haughtinefs unallied with 
 real dignity, and by an ignorance of men 
 and their rights, that eafily made them 
 the dupes of unconftitutional defigns, and 
 all the baneful influence of an ever to be 
 execrated fecret influence. It has been 
 ufual in this country to keep the H-^ 
 1 as much from the world as 
 
 poflible to give him his tutors for his 
 inmates, and it has not feldom happened 
 that the director of his early ftudies has 
 been both unfriendly to the conftitution, 
 and the fecret director of machinations 
 againft it. Popularity was looked on as 
 either dangerous to the reigning influence, 
 that with faldb affectation dreaded a di- 
 vifion of r-^-1 fun mine, or derogatory to 
 r 1 dignity. We need not go very far 
 back into a hiftory of the calamities of 
 this country, into a detail of the effects 
 of an influence, ^enormous, fecret, dark, 
 
 greater
 
 greater than the throne itfelf, to prove 
 the effects of an education of the H 
 
 Ap 1 fatal, when conducted on a 
 
 a plan of feclufion, of favoritifm, of ig- 
 norance, with the active interefts of this 
 country, And furely I muft be within 
 the conception of gentlemen, when I 
 aflert that this country is not unacquaint- 
 ed with the unconftitutional effects of an 
 education of this fpecies. The good 
 fenfe, the generality, and the magnani- 
 mity of his R H ^-, early taught 
 
 him to know the dreadful confequences 
 that refult from that feclufion from the 
 friends to his government, from whom 
 alone he was moft likely to derive con- 
 {Htutional habits of thinking. Thefe 
 principles of the mind had in time a pre- 
 maturity, that at an early age led him to 
 a cultivation of that part of the nation 
 which profefled the pureft principles of 
 
 the
 
 the conftitution 5 and an attention to the 
 influence baneful and unconftitutional, 
 which he traced to the incorrigible habits 
 of a contrary education, taught his libe- 
 ral mind, that, however, an abhorrence 
 of the principles of that influence, which 
 he lamented might detach him from the 
 fupporters of them, his happinefs as 
 K g of E gl 4, to which ftation he 
 naturally, though with filial piety looked 
 forward, was to be beft attained by an 
 early cultivation of the principles of ci- 
 vil liberty, and an early habit of friend- 
 fhip with its friends and advocates. 
 Thus difpofed to focial intercourfe- 
 averfe to that fullen confinement in 
 which an ignorance of human nature, and 
 an hoftility to its rights, are mofl eafily 
 
 united and imbibed, we fee his R 
 
 H ftep boldly into that great 
 
 world, which from an innate philan- 
 thropy
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 thropy he loved, and for which his vir- 
 tues and fplendid accomplishments formed 
 him an illuftrious ornament. On this great 
 theatre a part was deftined him worthy 
 of his ftation ; and we have feen him in 
 all refpe&s, wherein the great virtues 
 of the man, or the munificence of the 
 
 P could be difplayed, condudt him- 
 
 felf, as might be expected, with genero- 
 fity, charity, and munificence. 
 
 It is impoffible for any man to know 
 his R. H. and not recognife the great and 
 the good that diftinguifti the man of 
 famion in his deportment, the man of 
 genius in his talents, and in his nume- 
 rous acts of benevolence, the virtues of 
 generoHty, condefcenfion, and a manly 
 conduct, that {tamps a weight and a dig- 
 nity, independent of rank and title. 
 Whatever is amiable and valuable in 
 
 temperi
 
 r.9 3 
 
 temper ; whatever we efteem in the friend, 
 or admire in the companion, will be 
 found to be moft unoftentatioufly and 
 fingularly combined in the character of 
 his R. H. To a progrefs in the arts and 
 in elegant attainment beyond moft or" his 
 age, and eminently diftinguiflied in them; 
 to a tafte that has rendered him among 
 the fafhionable, the arbiter elegantiarum 
 of Europe, the model of grace and hap- 
 pinefs of felecVion ; eliciting the genius 
 of his countrymen in the various difplay 
 
 of invention in the mechanic arts,- to this 
 
 ' . > i > 
 
 his R. H. adds the graces of literature, 
 
 and the happy endowments of an uncom- 
 mon facility in and intimacy with the 
 languages of Europe. Such is the man 
 on whofe auguft name the tongue of 
 invective has thrown the afperflon of 
 every fpecies of depadation. If the 
 ardor of youth has ever betrayed his R. H. 
 into excefles ; if the prying and critical 
 M eye
 
 C 9 
 
 eye of active, bufy, hoftile partizans has 
 ever followed him where chaftity would 
 not go, or through a career of youthful en- 
 joyment ; if the cold and phlegmatic fpy 
 and eaves-dropper have detected him in 
 thofe flights of paffion to which they 
 never may have afpired ; and it fhall even 
 be proved before the cenforial court of 
 prudence that in fome moments of un- 
 guarded privacy and relaxation, he has 
 not acled the philofopher, the mifer, and 
 the mifanthrope ; the candid and the ge- 
 nerous, who have hearts to feel and paf- 
 iions to indulge, will fatisfy themfelves 
 with a judgement not more fevere upon 
 the character of his R. H. than that which 
 they would form on any gentleman and 
 man of honor ; and conclude as liberality 
 and candor fuggeft to every enlightened 
 mind, with the proofs of thofe virtues 
 which he has fo eminently difplayed, the 
 
 excefies
 
 [ 9* 3 
 
 exceffes of which have this night been his 
 atrocious crimes. 
 
 But, Sir, the faults of his R. H. as a 
 mere man actuated by a lively tafte for 
 pleafure, are not his only misfortunes, 
 during this procefs, this torture of his 
 character. Thefe find their apology, did 
 they need one in the generoiity of the 
 mind. They are anfwered by the re- 
 trofped of every gentleman's life, and 
 need but a recurrence to the hiftory of 
 every man's progrefs of character, to 
 meet the moft complete refutation. Fear* 
 ful of failing where nature fo powerfully 
 bppofed them, the enemies of his R. H. 
 have gone into a theme of declamation, 
 that they thought applied to the more 
 fundamental duties of moral life, and 
 were the indifpenfable obligations in the 
 relation of fon and father. His R. H. 
 is accufed of acYmg the part of filial dif- 
 M 2 obedience
 
 obedience, and of open indecency in his 
 
 conduct toward his M ty. Sir, this 
 
 is a favourit topic with fhallow minds, 
 and of fuch as are accuftomed to carry 
 their ideas of political obligation from 
 their own bofoms and fituations into their 
 reafonings on all occafions, and on all 
 fubjecls. This ground is not tenable for 
 a moment when we reflect that his R. H. 
 is to be confidered in this houfe not only 
 in the character of one of the R Fa- 
 mily, and as fon to his M ty, but he 
 
 is to be viewed as a political character 
 born a member of the Legiflature of 
 this country, and invefted with honors 
 
 and dignities independent of the C n, 
 
 and derived from the conftitution. In 
 the character of a Peer he is an indepen- 
 dent member of the Houfe of L ds. 
 
 As a man he is poflefled of the rneftima- 
 ble and unalienable right to his own 
 opinion and way of thinking. To de- 
 
 ftroy
 
 [ 93 ] 
 
 ftroy this right would be to violate the 
 common rights of mankind. To cenfure 
 his R. H. for a compliance with his own 
 political principles, is to deftroy the right 
 of private judgement; and is not there- 
 fore the conduct which this houfe, by its 
 decifion to night on this part of the 
 charge, will adopt. I will not take, Sir, 
 upon me to fay how far a P. of W. 
 might go in oppofition to his R. F.'s po- 
 litical tenets and to his adminiftration ; 
 but I will be bold to affert that the freedom 
 of opinion in an Englimman is his hap- 
 pinefs, and that as a Peer of the realm 
 his R. H. is not to be deprived of this 
 great right, 
 
 I beg pardon of the Houfe for fitch a 
 trefpafs upon their patience, and with a 
 few obfervations more will conclude. 
 
 The oppofition of min y to this me2- 
 
 fure was, what I expected from the known 
 M 3 hoftiiity
 
 [ 94 ] 
 
 hoftility 'of their common deportment to 
 his R. H. The right honourable gen- 
 tleman has affe&ed with his impofing air 
 of principle to fay, that his oppolition on. 
 this occalion, has like the other whimfical 
 Heps of his adminiftration, proceeded on, 
 grounds of patriotifm, and on a reluftance 
 to increafe the burthens of the country. 
 But, though he intrench himfelf within 
 the faftnefs of minifterial refource, and 
 flicker his conduft under the fhield 
 of motives which no penetration can ex- 
 plore, I defy even the chicanery with all 
 its copla fandi that fo eminently mark the 
 powers of the right honourable gentlemen, 
 to prove to the fatisfa&ion of this Houfe 
 how his duty to his country can be impli- 
 cated by the propofed accommodation ; 
 how the happinefs of his country can be 
 affefted by an aft that would refcue from 
 embarrafiment her greateft ornament ; and 
 how the caufe of honefty and virtue can 
 
 be
 
 [ 95 ] 
 
 be wounded, by doing juftice to that man, 
 who to do juftice to others, with a magna- 
 nimity equalled but in heroic fi&ion, has 
 refigned the fplendour of a Court and th<; 
 
 patronage of a P e ; who to be juft 
 
 has been willing for a time to- ceafe to 
 appear great. No, Sir, to the enmity 
 alone, which a difpofition, adverfe to thofe 
 men whom his R, H. condefcends to 
 call his friends, is the (hallow artifice to 
 be imputed. Not all the rhetoric thatfo 
 highly diftinguifhes the right honourable 
 gentleman from every other member of 
 this hdufe, can reconcile a fenfe of duty 
 with a difregard to the profperity of the 
 fecond perfonage in the kingdom. And 
 lamentable is the thought, that the r 4 
 ear can be poifoned by minifterial fug- 
 geftions, dictated by party picque and 
 party malevolence. Sir, the vote of his 
 R. H. on the India Bill is not forgotten 
 -It is to be revenged. The exercife 
 M 4 of
 
 t 96 ] 
 
 of an ineftimable right when adverfe to 
 
 min 1 defigns is to be revenged. The 
 
 fcrutiny bufinefs is to be vifited on the 
 head of his R. H. 
 
 The benign mind of our moft gracious 
 Sovreign is incapable of harbouring ani- 
 mofities. Of the India Bill it can know 
 but as of an abftraft point. It can know 
 of the fcrutiny, but as an abftracl point, 
 in which its' interference would have been 
 unconstitutional. To adminiftration, Sir, 
 alone muft this oppofition and this cla- 
 mour be afcribed ; and I now warn them 
 againft fuch conduct, as the moft unjuft 
 and unpopular meafure, that a mifguided 
 and infatuated adminiftration ever at- 
 tempted or perpetrated. 
 
 Mr. Fox here recapitulated his forcible 
 arguments for an addition, in a ftrain of 
 high eulogium on the zeal of the honou- 
 rable
 
 [ 97 ] 
 
 rable Alderman who made the motion 
 2nd finifiied his fpeech for giving it his 
 hearty fupport. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Pitt rofe to- 
 gether but Mr. Sheridan faying he had 
 but a few words to fay in anfvver to an 
 honourable Member who fo remarkably 
 fpoke that evening, Mr. Pitt fat down 
 and Mr. Sheridan faid " After the vin- 
 dication, which my right honourable friend 
 has imprefled upon the minds of the 
 Houfe, with all that fervor of eloquence 
 and cordiality which fo peculiarly cha- 
 racterize him, it would feem unneceffary 
 for me to trefpafs upon the indulgence of 
 the Houfe. Gentlemen are naturally 
 impatient to end a difcuffion painful to 
 every good heart, but as the honourable 
 gentleman, whofe criminating imagination 
 and virulence of invective, have been fq 
 completely exhibited and confuted, may 
 
 gloiify
 
 glorify himfelf in the filent neglect of my 
 right honourable friend, on two articles 
 of fuppofed criminality; I am reluctantly 
 forced to trefpafs upon that impatience. I 
 will indulge the honourable gentleman 
 with a word or two, but I (hall not, any 
 more than my right honourable friend, 
 attempt to refute abfurdities. My right 
 honourable friend here regards them too 
 directly with the eye of contempt, to have 
 allowed thofe futile charges to add a 
 fing]e fpark to that indignation, which fo 
 evidently animated his manly, loyal, and 
 1 may with propriety call it, his friendly 
 vindication. 
 
 X 
 
 Sir The intimacy of his R. H. with 
 
 a certain P e of the B d R 1 
 
 of F e, is one of the circumftances, 
 
 which the terrors of dotage and the illi- 
 berality of fecluded age have thought fit 
 to deprefs into criminality. The imputa- 
 tion
 
 [ 99 ] 
 
 tion is too groundlefs and indecent to 
 fuffer me to obtrude the concerns of an 
 illuftrious foreigner before the domeftic 
 tribunal of a Houfe of Commons, but I 
 truft, the neceffity under which I ftand to 
 vindicate his R. H. from the afperfions of 
 malignity, will juftifjr the prefumption 
 of this attempt. But furely, Sir, when 
 the honourable gentleman thinks fit to 
 difcard the maxims of benevolent con- 
 ftruftion, it might be expected that the 
 imprudence of public inveftigation would 
 have received fome check from the caution 
 of old age. However heinous, in his ef- 
 timation of focial relation, may appear 
 the intercourfe of princely minds, I am 
 perfuaded neither of the R 1 P g s 
 arraigned will accept the fhield of hypo- 
 crify prefented to them by the example 
 of the honourable gentleman himfelf. 
 I can only find an apology for his error in 
 the character of his heart, and in the zeal 
 
 of
 
 of an hypocritical morality. To unravel 
 the intricacies of his accufation, it is only 
 neceflary to trace the progrefs of rurnour ; 
 and all the momentous dread of danger 
 to the ftate and to morality, will be found 
 to arife from the wildnefs of fancy, and 
 the mifconftruction of imbecillity. At 
 the approach of right reafon the vifionary 
 creation will diflblve, and hiftory will 
 record the fact without the deformities 
 of malicious interpretations. Might I 
 prefume to dictate to the mufe of hiftory 
 in this particular, I would recommend 
 a brief furvey of thofe illiberal reftraints 
 which, in the more enlightened ftage of 
 fociety, have been difcarded with all the 
 indignation of generous hearts. The 
 errors of fanaticifm, and that rudenefs of 
 mind, which fucceeded their partial de- 
 ftruclion, muft be fhewn to caft a fhade 
 over improving manners by a barbarity 
 of fentiment, which, forty years ago, 
 
 was
 
 was, with his other poffeffions, the inhe- 
 ritance of the honourable gentleman. The 
 minds of Princes will be feen reciprocally 
 to reflect the luilre of liberal intercourse, 
 and to fmile at the imputations of inhe- 
 rited illiberality, and obftinate dotage. 
 Her report may conclude by reflecting in 
 terms of a juft reproach upon the patience 
 of the Houfe, who have liftened with 
 more than a merited attention to the 
 dreams of pufillanimity, and the enor- 
 mities of malicious interpretation but, 
 I truft, have only liftened with patience, 
 to reject with deteftation. 
 
 The other article of the honourably 
 gentleman's charge, very properly unno- 
 ticed by my right honourable friend, is 
 a matter of lefs delicacy, as it involves 
 none but domeftic coniiderations ; but to 
 no man acquainted with the laws of his 
 country, as the honourable gentleman is 
 
 fuppofed
 
 J 
 
 fuppofed to be, could be magnified into 
 a queftion of the fmalleft moment. A 
 Blind impregnated by the confufed ideas 
 of ignorance and timidity, may convert 
 a connection of apparent delicacy and re- 
 finement, into a meteor of unpropitious 
 omen ; but by an attentive perufal of the 
 Aft of Parliament, which regulates the 
 marriages of the Royal Family, when 
 the utter impoffibility of a juft alarm 
 from the connexion alluded to is fully 
 demonftrated, the anxieties of a patriotic 
 mind may be appeafed. But the honour- 
 able gentleman muft allow me to obferve 
 to him, that the intrufion he has thought 
 proper to make, by this public enquiry into 
 the amufements of his R. H. is a mark of 
 difrefpect that cannot be authorized by 
 the rumours of illiberal whifperings, or 
 the timid fnggeftions of extrafenatorial 
 zeal. 
 
 If
 
 [ I0 3 ] . 
 
 If the honourable gentleman will per- 
 mit me to prefent him with a folution of 
 what is deemed myfterious and formida- 
 ble in this connection, I will not fuppofe 
 himfelf an inftance of caducity which 
 fometimes miftakes wantonnefs of thought 
 for vigour of conftitution ; and that the 
 illufive ftimulus of a difeafed imagination 
 had hurried him into one of thofe haunts 
 of debauchery, he has fo accurately exhi- 
 bited, and to which even age is not fel- 
 dom feen fhamelefsly to refort. No, Sir, 
 
 I will neither flatter the h gentleman 
 
 by imputing to him, fo tranfitory and 
 imperfect an incentive to gratification, 
 nor infult the dignity of truth and fenti- 
 ment by drawing fuch a parallel. But a 
 parallel does prelent itfelf to my rnind, 
 and it (hall be a leflbn of charity to the 
 honourable gentleman. He will allow 
 me to fuppofe that in the neighbourhood 
 of his Effex manfion, fome widow of pow- 
 erful
 
 [ 104 ] 
 
 erful attractions refided that under her 
 hofpitable roof he had found a (belter from 
 the peltings of a pitilefs ftorm that from 
 the adventure of that day a friendship had 
 commenced which happily diverted him 
 from the more hateful purfuits of petulant 
 age, and gave that repofe to his mind,- 
 and that elegant diverfion to its purfuits 
 which by fixing his own felicity, render- 
 ed him the more amiable to his friends. 
 Let the honourable gentleman fancy him- 
 felf become fuddenly the object at which 
 malevolence takes her aim, and the envcn^ 
 omed dart of malignant fufpicion is let 
 loofe I would then alk him, with what 
 temper of n&ind he would bear the fentence 
 of a neighbour, whofhould diftorta con- 
 nection fanctified by honor and liberality,- 
 into an event ominous of ruin to his 
 friends, and difinherttance to his heir. I 
 will tell the honourable gentleman, that 
 he would not bear it with the magnani* 
 
 mity
 
 J 
 
 itiity which fmiles at defamation and con- 
 temns the defamer." 
 
 The reply which Mr. Pitt made was 
 uncommonly concife, and fubftantially as 
 follows. 
 
 SirAfter the vaft range of argument 
 which gentlemen have allowed their 
 minds to take upon a motion, which is 
 only to be met by the more refpe&ful re- 
 pulfe of iilence, and the ftrong ground of 
 irregularity, and a breach of thofe rules 
 which this Houfe has hitherto fcrupu- 
 loufly obferved in all queftions which in- 
 volve the difcuflions of a dignity fo emi- 
 nent, and of a nature fo private, and de- 
 rogatory to that right of control inherent 
 in the crown over the fubordinate mem- 
 bers of the royal family, I mould think 
 it unneceffary to advert to the terms of 
 the motion? and of the debate, had not 
 N the
 
 t 106 
 
 t4ie nioft extraordinary fpeech of the ri 
 honourable gentleman rendered my filence 
 liable to a conftrucTion, which I (hould he 
 forry to have imprefled upon the houfer 
 for a fingle moment. The right honour- 
 able gentleman has thought fit to infert 
 in to his arguments in fupport of the mo- 
 tion; of the honourable alderman, coniider- 
 jltions as foreign to it, as they are deriion- 
 ftrative of a mind that has difcarded thofe 
 notions of decency, By \vhich the good in- 
 telligence of mankind is upheld, and 
 which ought moft particularly to fway, 
 \vhefe t'hei difmiirvon tends to degrade 
 the eminent ftation of the royal perfonage, 
 whofe i-nterells are intended to be afferted. 
 To that royal pcrfonage I am ever folicit- 
 ous to pfefer my moft fervent teftimonies 
 of refbecl^ but I hold in abhorrence thofe 
 rduiations of flattery, which tend only to 
 degrade the idol they would exalt. 1 Jap- 
 prly, his royal mind is not be influenced 
 
 by
 
 C 
 
 fey the fuggeftions of parafitical followers 5 
 and I (hall be content to abide by its deter- 
 mination, whether the charges of the right 
 honourable gentleman do not originate 
 more in the illufions of his own miftakea 
 zeal, than in any circumftance attached 
 to my fituation, or my inclination. I am 
 no wife envious of the merit of fervioe 
 which the honourable gentleman may, in 
 the boldnefs of his conjectures, claim by 
 the imputation he would fix upon myfelf, 
 as dictating upon the prefent occasion to 
 the royal breaft. The impertinence and 
 indelicacy of fuch a conduft, may, very 
 likely, ftrike the right honourable gentle- 
 man, as very weak obftacles, and eafily to 
 be overcome. Daring as the honourable 
 alderman accufes my adminiftration to be, 
 and I fhould be loth it were a whit kfs 
 effe&ively fo, it has never undertaken a 
 meafure, either injurious tctthe country ,-or 
 infulting to the crown. To obtrude other 
 N 3 confide rations
 
 confederations of a quality fo extremely 
 delicate, and in no wife correfponderit 
 with parliamentary purpofes, is no lefs a 
 mark of indifcretion, than a detraction from 
 that true dignity of his Royal Highnefs, 
 which, when regarded with the eyes of a 
 true refpeft, muft appear fuperior to all 
 encomium. To obey therefore the fug- 
 geftions of that refpeft, with which 
 the motion of the honourable alderman 
 ought to be received, I do, in the 
 moft categorical terms, deny every 
 particle of charge or infinuation, which 
 the right honourable gentleman has 
 felt proper to advance upon the pcca- 
 fion, as involving my fltnation in the op- 
 pofition to it, upon any other grounds, 
 than thofe of informality of proceeding, 
 and difrefpecT: to the crown in the firft in- 
 ftance, and my fenfe of the neceffity, of 
 applying every (hilling of the public reve- 
 nue, to purpofes of public expediency. 
 
 For
 
 109 
 
 For thefe reafons, I am fure, I fhall but 
 prove my due confideration for the necef- 
 Jities of the ftate by fupporting, as I do, 
 Sir, the order of the day. Several mem- 
 bers now rofe, but a general cry of Que- 
 tion, queftion, would not prevail againft 
 Mr. Le Mefurier's very pertinacious ef- 
 forts to be heard and we could juft di- 
 ftinguim in the uproar, that " He la- 
 mented no opportunity had been given 
 to him of delivering his fentiments on a 
 queftion that involved fo important an 
 object. This queftion, Sir involves 
 the moft important fubjeft no lefs, Sir, 
 than^no lefs than no lefs than the 
 happinefs, SirSir, I fay the happinefs 
 and dignity of the h r a t of the 
 
 c n. I I I am convinced con- 
 vinced, Sir, that every Englishman feels 
 as I do that every Englifhman feels as 
 I do when I aflert that that when I af- 
 fertthat " Here a cough parliamen- 
 tary
 
 [ :i 3 
 
 tary took place under the moft violent 
 call for the queftion and the gallery 
 being- cleared, we are waiting with impa- 
 tience the momentous rcfult of the dm- 
 fion.
 
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