The person that appeared here as counsel for the candidate who so long and so earnestly
solicited
your votes
thinks proper to deny that a very great part of you
have any votes to give.
thinks proper to deny that a very great part of you
have any votes to give.
Edmund Burke
But
in order to enable Parliament to answer all these
ends of provident and beneficent superintendence, her
powers must be. boundless. The gentlemen who
think the powers of. Parliament limited may please
themselves to talk of requisitions. But suppose the
requisitions are not obeyed? What! shall there be
no reserved power-in the empire, to supply a deficiency which may weaken, divide, and dissipate the
whole? We are engaged in war, - the Secretary of
State calls upon the colonies to contribute, --some
would do it, I think most would cheerfully? furnish
whatever is demanded, - one or two, suppose, hang
back, and, easing themselves, let the stress of the
draft lie on the: others, - surely it is proper that some
authority might legally say, "Tax -yourselves for
the common supply, or Parliament will do it for you. "
This backwardness was, as I am told, actually the
case of Pennsylvania for some short time towards the:
beginning of the last war, owing to some internal dissensions in the colony. But whether the fact were
so or otherwise, the case is equally to be provided for
by a competent sovereign power. But then this
ought to be no ordinary power, nor everused in the
first instance. This is what I meant, when I have
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 77
said, at various times, that I consider the power of
taxing in Parliament as an instrument of empire, and
not as a means of supply.
Such, Sir, is my idea of the Constitution of the
British Empire, as distinguished from the Constitution of Britain; and on these grounds I think subordination and liberty may be sufficiently reconciled through the whole, whether to serve a refining
speculatist or a factious demagogue I know not, but
enough surely for the ease and happiness of man.
Sir, whilst we held this happy course, we drew
more from the colonies than all the impotent violence
of despotism ever could extort from them. We did
this abundantly in the last war; it has never been
once denied; and what reason have we to imagine'
that the colonies would not have proceeded in supplying government as liberally, if you had not stepped
in and hindered them from contributing, Jby interrupting the channel in which their liberality flowed
with so strong a course,' by attempting to take, ilstead of being satisfied to receive? . / Sir William
Temple says, that Holland has loaded itself with ten
time's'the impositions which it. revolted from Spain
rather than submit to. He says true. Tyranny is
a poor. provider. It knows neither how to accumulate nor how to extract.
I charge, therefore, to this new and unfortunate system the loss not only of peace, of union, and of commerce, but even of revenue, which its friends are contending for. It is morally certain that we have
lost at least a million of free grants since the peace.
I think we, have lost a great deal more; and that
those who'look for a revenue from the provinces
never could have pursued, even in that lightj a course
more directly repugnant to their purposes.
? ? ? ? 78 SPEECHE ON AMERICAN TAXATION.
Now, Sir, I trust I have shown, first on that narrow ground which:the honorable gentleman measured, that you are like to lose nothing -by complying with the motion, except what you have lost already.
I have shown afterwards, that in time of peace you
flourished in commerce, and, when war required it,
had sufficient aid from the colonies, while you pursued your ancient policy; that you threw everything
into confusion, when you made the Stamp Act; and
that you restored everything to peace and order, when
you repealed it. I have shown that the revival of the
system of taxation has produced the very worst effects; and that the partial repeal has produced, not
partial good, but universal evil. Let these considerations, founded on facts, not one of which can be
denied, bring us back to our reason by the road of
our experience.
I cannot, as I have said, answer for mixed measures: but surely this mixture of lenity would give
the whole a better chance of success. When you
once regain confidence, the way will be clear before
you. Then you may enforce the Act of Navigation,
when it ought to be enforced. You will yourselves
open it, where it ought still further to be opened.
Proceed in what you do, whatever you do, from policy, and not from rancor. Let us act like men, let
us act like statesmen. Let us hold some sort of consistent conduct. It is agreed that a revenue is not
to be had in America. If we lose the profit, let us
get rid of the odium.
On this business of America, I confess I am serious, even to sadness. I have had but one opinion
concerning it, since I sat, and before I sat in Parliament. The noble lord* will, as usual, probably,
* Lord North.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 79
attribute the part taken by me and my friends in this
business to a desire of getting his places. Let him
enjoy this happy and original idea. If I deprived
him of it, I should take away most of his wit, and all
his argument. But I had rather bear the brunt of
all his wit, and indeed blows much heavier, than
stand answerable to God for embracing a system that
tends to the destruction of some of the very best and
fairest of His works. But I know the map of England as well as the noble lord, or as any other person; and I know that the way I take is not the road to preferment. My excellent and honorable friend
under me on the floor * has trod that road with great
toil for upwards of twenty years together. He is not
yet arrived at the noble lord's destination. However, the tracks of my worthy friend are those I have
ever wished to follow; because I know they lead to
honor. Long may we tread the same oad together,
whoever may accompany us, or who ver may laugh
at us on our journey! I honestly and solemnly declare, I have in all seasons adhered to the system of
1766 for no other reason than that I think it laid
deep in your truest interests, - and that, by limiting
the exercise, it fixes on the firmest foundations a
real, consistent, well-grounded authority in Parliament. Until you come back to that system, there
will be no peace for England.
* Mr. Dowdeswell.
? ? ? ? S P E E C HE S
AT
HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL, AND AT THE
CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 17 74.
VOL. II 6
? ? ? ? EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.
~W-E believe there is no need of an apology to
the public for' offering to them any genuine
speeches of Mr. Burke: the two contained in this
publication undoubtedly are so. The general approbation they met with (as we hear) from all parties at
Bristol persuades us that a good edition of them will
not be unacceptable in London; which we own to be
the inducement, and we hope is a justification, of our
offering it.
We do not presume to descant on the merit of
these speeches; but as it is no less new than honorable to findl a popular candidate, at a popular elec*tion, daring to avow his dissent to certain: points that have been considered as very popular objects, and
maintaining himself on the manly confidence of his
own opinion, so we must say that it does great credit
to the people of England, as it proves to the world,
that, to insure their confidence, it is not necessary
to flatter them, or to affect a subserviency to their
passions or their prejudices.
It may be necessary to premise, that at the opening
of the poll the candidates were Lord Clare, Mr.
Brickdale, the two last members, and Mr. Cruger, a
considerable merchant at Bristol. On the second day
of the poll, Lord Clare declined; and a considerable
body of gentlemen, who had wished that the city of
? ? ? ? -84 EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.
Bristol should, at this critical season, be represented
by some gentleman of tried abilities and known commercial knowledge, immediately put Mr. Burke in
nomination. Some of them set off express for London to apprise that gentleman of this event; but he
was gone to Malton, in Yorkshire. The spirit and
active zeal of these gentlemen followed him to Malton. They arrived there just after Mr. Burke's election for that place, and invited him to Bristol,
Mr. Burke, as he tells us in his first speech, acquainted his constituents with the honorable offer
that was made him, and, with their consent, he immediately set off for Bristol, on the Tuesday, at six in'the evening; he arrived at Bristol at half past two in the afternoon, on Thursday, the 13th of October, being
the sixth day of the poll.
He drove directly to the mayor's house, who not
being at home, he proceeded to the Guildhall, where
he ascended the hustings, and having saluted the
electors, the sheriffs, and the two can~didates, he
reposed himself for a few minutes, and then addressed the electors in a speech which was received
with great and universal applause and approbation. .
? ? ? ? SPEECH
AT
HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL.
ENTLEMEN, - I am come hither to solicit in
G person that favor which my friends have hitherto endeavored to procure for me, by the most obliging,
and to me the most honorable exertions. .
I have so high an opinion of the great trust which
you have to confer on this occasion, and, by long ex-. perience, so just a diffidence in my abilities to fill it
in a manrrer adequate even to my own ideas, that I
should never have ventured of myself to intrude into
that awful situation. But since I am called- upon by
the desire of several respectable fellow-subjects, as I
have done at other times, I give up my fears to their
wishes. Whatever my other deficiencies may be, I
do not know what it is to be wanting to my friends.
I am not fond of attempting to raise public expectations by great promises. At this time, there is much
cause to consider, and very little to presume. . We
seem to be approaching to a: great crisis in our affairs,
which calls for the whole wisdom of the wisest among
us, without being able to assure ourselves that any
wisdom can preserve us from many and great inconveniences. You know I speak of our unhappy contest with America. I. confess, it is a matter on which I look down as from a precipice. It is difficult in
itself, and it. is rendered more intricate by a great
? ? ? ? 86 SPEECH AT HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL.
variety of plans of conduct. I do not mean to enter
into them. I will not suspect a want of-good intention in framing them. But however pure the intentions of their authors may have been; we all know
that the event has been unfortunate. The means of
recovering our affairs are not obvious. So many great
questions of commerce, of finance, of constitution, and
of policy are involved in this American deliberation,
that I dare engage for nothing, but that I shall give
it, without any predilection to former opinions, or
any sinister bias whatsoever, the most honest and impartial consideration of which I am capable. The
public has a full right to it; and this great city,
a main pillar in the commercial interest of Great
Britain, must totter on its base by the slightest mistake with regard to our American measures.
Thus much, however, I think it not amiss to lay
before you,-that I am not, I hope, apt to take up or
lay down my opinions lightly. I have held, and ever
shall maintain, to the best of my power, unimpaired
and undiminished, the just, wise, and necessary constitutional superiority of Great Britain. This is necessary for America as well as for us. I never mean to depart from it. Whatever may be lost by it, I avow
it. The forfeiture even of your favor, if by such a
declaration I could forfeit it, though the first object
of my ambition, never will make me disguise my sentiments on this subject.
But - I have ever had a clear opinion, and have
ever held a constant correspondent conduct, that this
superiority is consistent with all the liberties a sober
and spirited American ought to. desire. I never mean
to put any colonist, or any human creature, in a situation not becoming a free man. To reconcile Brit
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL. 87
ish superiority with American liberty shall be my
great object, as far as my little faculties extend. I
am far from thinking that both, even yet, may not be
preserved.
When I first devoted myself to the public service,
I considered how I should render myself fit for it;
and this I did by endeavoring to discover what it was
that gave this country the rank it holds in the world,
I found. that our prosperity and dignity arose principally, if not solely, from two sources: our Constitution, and commerce. Both these I have spared no study to understand, and no endeavor to support.
The distinguishing part of our Constitution is its
liberty. To preserve that liberty inviolate seems the
particular duty and proper trust of a member of the
House of Commons. But the liberty, the only liberty, I mean is a- liberty connected with order: that
not only exists along with order and virtue, but which
cannot exist at all without them. It inheres in good
and steady government, as in its substance and vital
principle.
The other source of our power is commerce, of
which you are so large a part, and which cannot
exist, no more than your liberty, without a connection with many virtues. It has ever been a very
particular and a very favorite object of my study, in
its principles, and in its details. I think many here,
are acquainted with the truth of what I say. This I
know,-that I have ever had my house open, and my
poor services ready, for traders and manufacturers
of every denomination. My favorite ambition is, to
have those services acknowledged. I now appear before you to make trial, whether my earnest endeavors
have been so wholly oppressed by the weakness of my
? ? ? ? 88 SPEECH AT HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL.
abilities as to be rendered insignificant in the eyes of
a great trading city; or whether you choose to give a
weight to humble abilities, for the sake of the honest
exertions with which they are accompanied. This is
my trial to-day. . My industry is not on trial. Of my
industry I am sure, as far as my constitution of mind
and body admitted.
When: I was invited by many respectable merchants, freeholders, and freemen of this city. to offer
them my services, I had just received the honor of an
election at another place, at a very great distance
from this. I immediately opened the matter to those
of my worthy constituents who were with me, and
they unanimously advised me not to decline it. They
told me that they had elected me with a view to the
public service; and as great questions relative to our
commerce and colonies were imminent,'that in such
matters I might derive authority and support from
the representation of this great commercial city:
they desired me, therefore, to set off without delay,
very well persuaded that I never could forget my obligations to them or to my friends, for the choice they had made of me. From that time to this instant I
have not slept; and if I should have the honor of
being freely chosen by you, I hope I shall be as far
from slumbering'or sleeping, when your service requires me to be awake, as I have been in coming to offer myself a candidate for your favor.
? ? ? ? SPEECH
TO THE
ELECTORS OF BRISTOL,
ON HIS BEING DECLARED BY THE SHERIFFS DULY
ELECTED ONE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES
IN PARLIAMENT FOR THAT CITY,
ON THURSDAY, THE 3D OF NOVEMBER, 1774.
( ENTLEMEN, -I cannot avoid sympathizing.
v strongly with the feelings of the gentleman
who has received the same honor that you have conferred on me. If he, who was bred and passed his.
whole life amongst you, --if he,who, through the easy
gradations of acquaintance, friendship, and esteem,
has obtained the honor which seems of itself, naturally and almost insensibly, to meet with those who,
by the even tenor of pleasing manners and social virtues, slide into the love and confidence of their fellow-citizens,-if he cannot speak but with great emotion on this subject, surrounded as he is on all
sides with his old friends,- you will have the goodness to excuse me, if my real, unaffected embarrass-. ment prevents me from expressing my gratitude to you as I ought.
I was brought hither under the disadvantage of
being unknown, even by sight,. to any of you. No
previous canvass was made for me. I was put in
nomination after the poll was opened. I did not ap
? ? ? ? 90 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. pear until it was far advanced. If, under all these accumulated disadvantages, your good opinion has carried me to this happy point of success, you will pardon me, if I can only say to you collectively, as I said to you individually, simply and plainly, I thank you,- I am obliged to you, -- I am not insensible
of your kindness.
This is all that I am able to say for the inestimable
favor you have conferred upon me. But I cannot be
satisfied without saying a little more in defence of
the right you have to confer such a favor.
The person that appeared here as counsel for the candidate who so long and so earnestly solicited your votes
thinks proper to deny that a very great part of you
have any votes to give. He fixes a standard period
of time in his own imagination, (not what the law defines, but merely what the convenience of his client suggests,) by which he would cut off at one stroke all
those freedoms which are the dearest privileges of
your corporation, - which the Common Law authorizes, - which your magistrates are compelled to grant, -which come duly authenticated into this court, --
and are saved in the clearest words, and with the
most religious care and tenderness, in that very act
of Parliament which was made to regulate the elections by freemen, and to prevent all possible abuses in making them.
I do not intend to argue the matter here. My
learned counsel has supported your cause with his
usual ability; the worthy sheriffs have acted with
their usual equity; and I have no doubt that the
same equity which dictates the return will guide
the final determination. I had the honor, in conjunction with many far wiser. men, to contribute a
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 91
very small assistance, but, however, some assistance,
to the forming. the judicature which is to try such
questions. It would be unnatural in me to doubt the
justice of that court, in the trial of my own cause, to
which I have been so active to give jurisdiction over
every other.
I assure the worthy freemen, and this corporation,
that, if. the gentleman perseveres in the intentions
which his present warmth dictates to him, I will
attend their cause with diligence, and I hope with
effect. For, if I know anything of myself, it is not
my own interest in it, but my full conviction, that
induces me to tell you, I think there is not a
shadow of doubt in the case. . I do not imagine that you find me rash in declaring
myself, or very forward in troubling yol. . From the
beginning to the end of the election, I have kept silence in all matters of discussion. I have never asked
a question of a voter on the other side, or supported
a. doubtful vote on my own. I respected the abilities
of my managers; I relied on the candor of the court.
I think the worthy sheriffs will bear me witness that
I have never once made an attempt to impose upon
their reason, to surprise their justice, or to ruffle their
temper. I stood on the hustings (except when I gave
my thanks to -those who favored me with their votes)
less like a candidate than an unconcerned spectator
of a public proceeding. But here the face of things
is altered. Here is an attempt for a general massacre of suffrages,-. an attempt, by a promiscuous carnage of friends and foes, to exterminate above two thousand votes, including seven hundred polled for the
gentleman himself who now complains, and who would
destroy the friends whom he has obtained, only
? ? ? ? 92 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
because he cannot obtain as many of them as he
wishes.
How he'will be permitted, ini another place, to stultify and disable himself, and to plead against his own acts, is another question. The law will decide it. I.
shall only speak of it as it concerns the propriety of public conduct in this city. I do not pretend to lay
down rules of decorum for other gentlemen. They
are best judges of the mode of proceeding that will recommend them to the favor of their fellow-citizens.
But I confess I should look rather awkward, if I had
been the very first to produce the new copies of freedom, -if I had persisted in producing them to the last, -
if I had ransacked, with the most unremitting industry and the most penetrating research, the remotest corners of the kingdom to discover them, -. if I were
then, all at once, to turn short, and declare that I
had been sporting all this while with the right of
election, and that I had been drawing out a poll,
upon no sort of rational grounds, which disturbed the
peace of my fellow-citizens for a month together;- I
really, for my part, should appear awkward under
such circumstances.
It would be still more awkward in me, if I were
gravely to look the sheriffs:in the face, and to tell
them they were not to determine my cause on my
own principles, nor to'make the return upon those
votes upon which I had rested my. election. Such
would be my appearance to the court *and magistrates.
But how should I appear to the voters themselves?
If I had gone round to the citizens entitled to freedom, and squeezed them by the hand, -"' Sir, I humbly beg"your vote, -I shall be eternally thankful, --
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 93
may I hope for the honor of your support? . -- Well. !
- come, - we shall see you at the Council-House. "'
-- If I were then to deliver them to my managers,. pack them into tallies, vote them off in court, and
when I heard from the bar, "Such a one only!
and such a one forever! -he. 's my man! "-" Thank
you, good Sir, -- Hah! my worthy friend! thank you
kindly, - that's an honest fellow, - how is your good
family? "- Whilst these words were hardly. out of
my mouth, if I should have wheeled round at once,
and told them, -" Get you gone, you. pack of worthless fellows! you have no votes, - you are usurpers!
you are intruders on the rights of real. freemen! I
will have nothing to do with you! you ought never to
have been produced at this election, and the sheriffs
ought not to have admitted you to poll! "
Gentlemen, I should make a strange figure, if my
conduct had been of this sort. I am not so old
an acquaintance of yours as the worthy gentleman.
Indeedj I could not have ventured on such kind of
freedoms with you. But I am bound, and I will endeavor, to have justice done to the rights of freemen,
- even though I should at the same time be obliged
to vindicate the former * part of my antagonist's conduct against his own present inclinations.
I owe myself, in all things, to all the freemen of
this city. My particular friends have a demand on
me that I should not deceive their expectations.
Never was cause or man supported with more constancy, more activity, more spirit. I have been supported with a zeal, indeed, and heartiness in my friends, which (if their object had been at all propor* -Mr. Brickdale opened his poll, it seemS, with a tally of those
very kind of freemen, and voted many hundreds of them.
? ? ? ? 94 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
tiocned to their endeavors) could:never be sufficiently
commended. They supported me-upon the most liberal principles. They wished that the members: for Bristol should be chosen for the city, and for their
country at large, and not for themselves.
So far they are not disappointed. If I possess
nothing else, I am sure I possess the temper that is
fit for your service. I know nothing of Bristol, but
by the favors I have received, and the virtues I have
seen exerted in it.
I shall ever retain, what I now feel, the most perfect and- grateful attachment to my friends, - and
I have no enmities, no resentments. I never call
consider fidelity to engagements and constancy in
friendships but with the highest approbation, even
when those noble qualities are employed against my
own pretensions. The gentleman who is not so fortunate as I have been in this contest enjoys, in this respect, a consolation full of honor both to himself
and to his friends. They have certainly left nothing
undone for his service.
As for the trifling petulance which the rage of
party stirs up in little minds, though it should show
itself even in this court, it has not made the slightest
impression on me. The highest flight of such clamorous birds is winged in an inferior region of the air. We hear them, and we look upon them, just as you,
Gentlemen, when you enjoy the serene air on your
lofty rocks, look down upon the gulls that skim the
mud of your river, when it is exhausted of its tide.
I am sorry I cannot conclude without saying a
word on a topic touched upon by my worthy colleague. I wish that topic had been passed by at a
time when I have so little leisure to discuss it. But
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 95 since he has thought proper to throw it out, I owe you a clear explanation of my poor sentiments on that subject.
He tells you that "the topic of instructions has
occasioned much altercation and uneasiness in this
city "; and he expresses himself (if I understand him
rightly) in favor of the coercive authority of such instructions.
Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness
and glory of a representative to live in the strictest
union,;the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved co'mmunication with his constituents. Their
wishes ought to have great weight with him; their
opinions- high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his
pleasure, his satisfactions, to theirs, -- and above all,
ever, and in all cases, to prefer their. interest to his
own.
But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment,
his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice
to you, to any man, or to ally set of men living.
These he does not derive from your pleasure, --no,
nor from the law and the Constitution. They are a
trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is
deeply answerable. Your. representative owes you,
not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your
opinion.
My worthy colleague says, his will ought to be subservient to yours. If that be all, the thing is innocent. If government were a matter of will upon any side, yours, Without question, ought to be superior.
But government and legislation are matters of reason
and judgment,:and not of inclination; and what sort
? ? ? ? 96 SPEECH AT' THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
of reason is that in which the determination precedes
the discussion,:in which one set of men deliberate
and another decide, and where those who form the
conclusion are perhaps three hundred miles distant
from those who hear the arguments?
To deliver an opinion is the right of all men; that
of constituents is a weighty and respectable opinion,
which a representative ought always to rejoice to
hear, and which he ought always most seriously to
consider. But authoritative instructions, mandates
issued, which the member is bound blindly and implicitly to obey, to vote, and to argue for, though
contrary to the clearest conviction of his judgment
-and conscience, -these are things utterly unknown
to the laws of this land, and which arise from a fundamental mistake of the whole order and tenor of our
Constitution.
Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from
different and hostile interests, which interests each
must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; but Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole -where not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting
from the general reason of the whole. You choose
a member, indeed; but when you have chosen him,
he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of
_Parliament. If the local constituent should have
an interest or should form an hasty opinion evidently
opposite to the real good of the rest of the community, the member for that place ought to be as far as
any other from any endeavor to give it effect. I beg
pardon for saying so much on this subject; I have
been unwillingly drawn into it; but I shall ever use
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE:CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 97
a respectful frankness of communication with you.
Your faithful friend, your devoted servant, I shall be
to the end of my life: a flatterer you do not wish for.
On this point of instructions, however, I think it
scarcely possible we ever caii have any sort of difference. Perhaps I may give you too much, rather
than too little trouble.
From the first hour I was encouraged to court your
favor, to this happy day of obtaining it, I have never
promised you anything but humble and persevering
endeavors to do my duty. The weight of that duty,
I confess, makes me tremble; and whoever well considers what it is, of all things in the world, will fly
from what has the least likeness to a positive and precipitate engagement. To be a good member of Parliament is, let me tell you, no easy task, - especially at this time, when there is so strong a disposition to
run into the perilous extremes of servile compliance
or wild popularity. To unite circumspection with
vigor is absolutely necessary, but it is extremely
difficult. We are now members for a rich commercial city; this city, however, is but a part of a rich
commercial nation, the interests of which are various,
multiform, and intricate. We are members for that
great nation, which, however, is itself but part of a
great empire, extended by our virtue and our fortune
to the farthest limits of the East and of the West.
All these wide-spread interests must be considered,must be compared, - must be reconciled, if possible.
We are members for a free country; and surely we
all know that the machine of a free constitution is no
simple thing, but as intricate and as delicate as it is
valuable. We are members in a great and ancient
monarchy; and we must preserve religiously the true,
VOL. II. 7
? ? ? ? 98 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
legal rights of the sovereign, which form the keystone that binds together the noble and well-constructed arch of our empire and our Constitution. A constitution made up of balanced powers must ever
be a critical thing. As such I mean to touch that
part of it which comes within. my reach. I know my
inability, and I wish for support from every quarter.
In particular I shall aim at the friendship, and shall
cultivate the best correspondence, of the worthy colleague you have given me.
I trouble you no farther than once more to thank
you all: you, Gentlemen, for your favors; the candidates, for their temperate and polite behavior; and
the sheriffs, for a conduct which may give a model
for all who are in public stations.
? ? ? ? SPEECH
ON
MOVING HIS RESOLUTIONS FOR CONCILIATION WITH THE COLONIES. MARCH 22, I775.
? ? ? ? SPEECH. . HOPE, Sir, that, notwithstanding the austerity of the Chair, your good-nature will incline you to
some degree of indulgence towards human frailty.
You will not think it unnatural, that those who have
an object depending, which strongly engages their
hopes and fears, should be somewhat inclined to superstition. As I came into the House, full of anxiety
about the event of my motion, I found,to my infinite
surprise, that the grand. penal bill by which we had
passed sentence on the trade and sustenance of America is to be returned to us from the other House. *. I
do confess, I could not help looking on this event as
a fortunate omen. I look upon it as a sort of Providential favor, by which we are put once more in possession of our deliberative capacity, upon a business so very questionable in its nature, so very uncertain
in its issue. By the return of this bill, which seemed
to have taken its flight forever, we are at this very. instant nearly as free to choose a plan for our, American government as we were on the first day-of the * The act to'restrain the trade and commerce of the provinces of
Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, and colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island and Providence Plantation,-in North America;
to Great- Britain, Ireland, and the -British Islands in the West Indies; and to. prohibit such provinces and colonies from carrying on
any fishery on the banks of Newfoundland. and other places therein
mentioned, under certain conditions and limitations.
? ? ? ? 102 SPEECH ON CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA.
session. If, Sir, we incline to the side of conciliation,
we are not at all embarrassed (unless we please to
make ourselves so) by any incongruous mixture of
coercion and restraint. We are therefore called up.
on, as it were by a superior warning voice, again to
attend to America, -to attend to the whole of it together, - and to review the subject with an unusual degree of care and calmness.
Surely it is an awful subject,- or there is none so
on this side of the grave. When I first had the
honor of a seat in this House, the affairs of that
continent pressed themselves upon us as the most
important and most delicate object of Parliamentary
attention. My little share in this great deliberation oppressed me. I found myself a partaker in
a very high trust; and having no sort of reason to
rely on the strength of my natural abilities for the
proper execution of that trust, I was obliged to take
more than common pains to instruct myself in everything which relates to our colonies. I was not
less under the necessity of forming some fixed ideas
concerning the general policy of the British empire.
Something of this sort seemed to be indispensable,
in order, amidst so vast a fluctuation of passions and
opinions, to concentre my thoughts, to ballast my
conduct, to preserve me from being blown about
by every wind of fashionable doctrine. I really did
not think it safe or manly to have fresh principles
to seek upon every fresh mail which should arrive
from America.
At that period I had the fortune to find myself
in perfect concurrence with a large majority in this
House.
in order to enable Parliament to answer all these
ends of provident and beneficent superintendence, her
powers must be. boundless. The gentlemen who
think the powers of. Parliament limited may please
themselves to talk of requisitions. But suppose the
requisitions are not obeyed? What! shall there be
no reserved power-in the empire, to supply a deficiency which may weaken, divide, and dissipate the
whole? We are engaged in war, - the Secretary of
State calls upon the colonies to contribute, --some
would do it, I think most would cheerfully? furnish
whatever is demanded, - one or two, suppose, hang
back, and, easing themselves, let the stress of the
draft lie on the: others, - surely it is proper that some
authority might legally say, "Tax -yourselves for
the common supply, or Parliament will do it for you. "
This backwardness was, as I am told, actually the
case of Pennsylvania for some short time towards the:
beginning of the last war, owing to some internal dissensions in the colony. But whether the fact were
so or otherwise, the case is equally to be provided for
by a competent sovereign power. But then this
ought to be no ordinary power, nor everused in the
first instance. This is what I meant, when I have
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 77
said, at various times, that I consider the power of
taxing in Parliament as an instrument of empire, and
not as a means of supply.
Such, Sir, is my idea of the Constitution of the
British Empire, as distinguished from the Constitution of Britain; and on these grounds I think subordination and liberty may be sufficiently reconciled through the whole, whether to serve a refining
speculatist or a factious demagogue I know not, but
enough surely for the ease and happiness of man.
Sir, whilst we held this happy course, we drew
more from the colonies than all the impotent violence
of despotism ever could extort from them. We did
this abundantly in the last war; it has never been
once denied; and what reason have we to imagine'
that the colonies would not have proceeded in supplying government as liberally, if you had not stepped
in and hindered them from contributing, Jby interrupting the channel in which their liberality flowed
with so strong a course,' by attempting to take, ilstead of being satisfied to receive? . / Sir William
Temple says, that Holland has loaded itself with ten
time's'the impositions which it. revolted from Spain
rather than submit to. He says true. Tyranny is
a poor. provider. It knows neither how to accumulate nor how to extract.
I charge, therefore, to this new and unfortunate system the loss not only of peace, of union, and of commerce, but even of revenue, which its friends are contending for. It is morally certain that we have
lost at least a million of free grants since the peace.
I think we, have lost a great deal more; and that
those who'look for a revenue from the provinces
never could have pursued, even in that lightj a course
more directly repugnant to their purposes.
? ? ? ? 78 SPEECHE ON AMERICAN TAXATION.
Now, Sir, I trust I have shown, first on that narrow ground which:the honorable gentleman measured, that you are like to lose nothing -by complying with the motion, except what you have lost already.
I have shown afterwards, that in time of peace you
flourished in commerce, and, when war required it,
had sufficient aid from the colonies, while you pursued your ancient policy; that you threw everything
into confusion, when you made the Stamp Act; and
that you restored everything to peace and order, when
you repealed it. I have shown that the revival of the
system of taxation has produced the very worst effects; and that the partial repeal has produced, not
partial good, but universal evil. Let these considerations, founded on facts, not one of which can be
denied, bring us back to our reason by the road of
our experience.
I cannot, as I have said, answer for mixed measures: but surely this mixture of lenity would give
the whole a better chance of success. When you
once regain confidence, the way will be clear before
you. Then you may enforce the Act of Navigation,
when it ought to be enforced. You will yourselves
open it, where it ought still further to be opened.
Proceed in what you do, whatever you do, from policy, and not from rancor. Let us act like men, let
us act like statesmen. Let us hold some sort of consistent conduct. It is agreed that a revenue is not
to be had in America. If we lose the profit, let us
get rid of the odium.
On this business of America, I confess I am serious, even to sadness. I have had but one opinion
concerning it, since I sat, and before I sat in Parliament. The noble lord* will, as usual, probably,
* Lord North.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 79
attribute the part taken by me and my friends in this
business to a desire of getting his places. Let him
enjoy this happy and original idea. If I deprived
him of it, I should take away most of his wit, and all
his argument. But I had rather bear the brunt of
all his wit, and indeed blows much heavier, than
stand answerable to God for embracing a system that
tends to the destruction of some of the very best and
fairest of His works. But I know the map of England as well as the noble lord, or as any other person; and I know that the way I take is not the road to preferment. My excellent and honorable friend
under me on the floor * has trod that road with great
toil for upwards of twenty years together. He is not
yet arrived at the noble lord's destination. However, the tracks of my worthy friend are those I have
ever wished to follow; because I know they lead to
honor. Long may we tread the same oad together,
whoever may accompany us, or who ver may laugh
at us on our journey! I honestly and solemnly declare, I have in all seasons adhered to the system of
1766 for no other reason than that I think it laid
deep in your truest interests, - and that, by limiting
the exercise, it fixes on the firmest foundations a
real, consistent, well-grounded authority in Parliament. Until you come back to that system, there
will be no peace for England.
* Mr. Dowdeswell.
? ? ? ? S P E E C HE S
AT
HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL, AND AT THE
CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 17 74.
VOL. II 6
? ? ? ? EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.
~W-E believe there is no need of an apology to
the public for' offering to them any genuine
speeches of Mr. Burke: the two contained in this
publication undoubtedly are so. The general approbation they met with (as we hear) from all parties at
Bristol persuades us that a good edition of them will
not be unacceptable in London; which we own to be
the inducement, and we hope is a justification, of our
offering it.
We do not presume to descant on the merit of
these speeches; but as it is no less new than honorable to findl a popular candidate, at a popular elec*tion, daring to avow his dissent to certain: points that have been considered as very popular objects, and
maintaining himself on the manly confidence of his
own opinion, so we must say that it does great credit
to the people of England, as it proves to the world,
that, to insure their confidence, it is not necessary
to flatter them, or to affect a subserviency to their
passions or their prejudices.
It may be necessary to premise, that at the opening
of the poll the candidates were Lord Clare, Mr.
Brickdale, the two last members, and Mr. Cruger, a
considerable merchant at Bristol. On the second day
of the poll, Lord Clare declined; and a considerable
body of gentlemen, who had wished that the city of
? ? ? ? -84 EDITOR'S ADVERTISEMENT.
Bristol should, at this critical season, be represented
by some gentleman of tried abilities and known commercial knowledge, immediately put Mr. Burke in
nomination. Some of them set off express for London to apprise that gentleman of this event; but he
was gone to Malton, in Yorkshire. The spirit and
active zeal of these gentlemen followed him to Malton. They arrived there just after Mr. Burke's election for that place, and invited him to Bristol,
Mr. Burke, as he tells us in his first speech, acquainted his constituents with the honorable offer
that was made him, and, with their consent, he immediately set off for Bristol, on the Tuesday, at six in'the evening; he arrived at Bristol at half past two in the afternoon, on Thursday, the 13th of October, being
the sixth day of the poll.
He drove directly to the mayor's house, who not
being at home, he proceeded to the Guildhall, where
he ascended the hustings, and having saluted the
electors, the sheriffs, and the two can~didates, he
reposed himself for a few minutes, and then addressed the electors in a speech which was received
with great and universal applause and approbation. .
? ? ? ? SPEECH
AT
HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL.
ENTLEMEN, - I am come hither to solicit in
G person that favor which my friends have hitherto endeavored to procure for me, by the most obliging,
and to me the most honorable exertions. .
I have so high an opinion of the great trust which
you have to confer on this occasion, and, by long ex-. perience, so just a diffidence in my abilities to fill it
in a manrrer adequate even to my own ideas, that I
should never have ventured of myself to intrude into
that awful situation. But since I am called- upon by
the desire of several respectable fellow-subjects, as I
have done at other times, I give up my fears to their
wishes. Whatever my other deficiencies may be, I
do not know what it is to be wanting to my friends.
I am not fond of attempting to raise public expectations by great promises. At this time, there is much
cause to consider, and very little to presume. . We
seem to be approaching to a: great crisis in our affairs,
which calls for the whole wisdom of the wisest among
us, without being able to assure ourselves that any
wisdom can preserve us from many and great inconveniences. You know I speak of our unhappy contest with America. I. confess, it is a matter on which I look down as from a precipice. It is difficult in
itself, and it. is rendered more intricate by a great
? ? ? ? 86 SPEECH AT HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL.
variety of plans of conduct. I do not mean to enter
into them. I will not suspect a want of-good intention in framing them. But however pure the intentions of their authors may have been; we all know
that the event has been unfortunate. The means of
recovering our affairs are not obvious. So many great
questions of commerce, of finance, of constitution, and
of policy are involved in this American deliberation,
that I dare engage for nothing, but that I shall give
it, without any predilection to former opinions, or
any sinister bias whatsoever, the most honest and impartial consideration of which I am capable. The
public has a full right to it; and this great city,
a main pillar in the commercial interest of Great
Britain, must totter on its base by the slightest mistake with regard to our American measures.
Thus much, however, I think it not amiss to lay
before you,-that I am not, I hope, apt to take up or
lay down my opinions lightly. I have held, and ever
shall maintain, to the best of my power, unimpaired
and undiminished, the just, wise, and necessary constitutional superiority of Great Britain. This is necessary for America as well as for us. I never mean to depart from it. Whatever may be lost by it, I avow
it. The forfeiture even of your favor, if by such a
declaration I could forfeit it, though the first object
of my ambition, never will make me disguise my sentiments on this subject.
But - I have ever had a clear opinion, and have
ever held a constant correspondent conduct, that this
superiority is consistent with all the liberties a sober
and spirited American ought to. desire. I never mean
to put any colonist, or any human creature, in a situation not becoming a free man. To reconcile Brit
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL. 87
ish superiority with American liberty shall be my
great object, as far as my little faculties extend. I
am far from thinking that both, even yet, may not be
preserved.
When I first devoted myself to the public service,
I considered how I should render myself fit for it;
and this I did by endeavoring to discover what it was
that gave this country the rank it holds in the world,
I found. that our prosperity and dignity arose principally, if not solely, from two sources: our Constitution, and commerce. Both these I have spared no study to understand, and no endeavor to support.
The distinguishing part of our Constitution is its
liberty. To preserve that liberty inviolate seems the
particular duty and proper trust of a member of the
House of Commons. But the liberty, the only liberty, I mean is a- liberty connected with order: that
not only exists along with order and virtue, but which
cannot exist at all without them. It inheres in good
and steady government, as in its substance and vital
principle.
The other source of our power is commerce, of
which you are so large a part, and which cannot
exist, no more than your liberty, without a connection with many virtues. It has ever been a very
particular and a very favorite object of my study, in
its principles, and in its details. I think many here,
are acquainted with the truth of what I say. This I
know,-that I have ever had my house open, and my
poor services ready, for traders and manufacturers
of every denomination. My favorite ambition is, to
have those services acknowledged. I now appear before you to make trial, whether my earnest endeavors
have been so wholly oppressed by the weakness of my
? ? ? ? 88 SPEECH AT HIS ARRIVAL AT BRISTOL.
abilities as to be rendered insignificant in the eyes of
a great trading city; or whether you choose to give a
weight to humble abilities, for the sake of the honest
exertions with which they are accompanied. This is
my trial to-day. . My industry is not on trial. Of my
industry I am sure, as far as my constitution of mind
and body admitted.
When: I was invited by many respectable merchants, freeholders, and freemen of this city. to offer
them my services, I had just received the honor of an
election at another place, at a very great distance
from this. I immediately opened the matter to those
of my worthy constituents who were with me, and
they unanimously advised me not to decline it. They
told me that they had elected me with a view to the
public service; and as great questions relative to our
commerce and colonies were imminent,'that in such
matters I might derive authority and support from
the representation of this great commercial city:
they desired me, therefore, to set off without delay,
very well persuaded that I never could forget my obligations to them or to my friends, for the choice they had made of me. From that time to this instant I
have not slept; and if I should have the honor of
being freely chosen by you, I hope I shall be as far
from slumbering'or sleeping, when your service requires me to be awake, as I have been in coming to offer myself a candidate for your favor.
? ? ? ? SPEECH
TO THE
ELECTORS OF BRISTOL,
ON HIS BEING DECLARED BY THE SHERIFFS DULY
ELECTED ONE OF THE REPRESENTATIVES
IN PARLIAMENT FOR THAT CITY,
ON THURSDAY, THE 3D OF NOVEMBER, 1774.
( ENTLEMEN, -I cannot avoid sympathizing.
v strongly with the feelings of the gentleman
who has received the same honor that you have conferred on me. If he, who was bred and passed his.
whole life amongst you, --if he,who, through the easy
gradations of acquaintance, friendship, and esteem,
has obtained the honor which seems of itself, naturally and almost insensibly, to meet with those who,
by the even tenor of pleasing manners and social virtues, slide into the love and confidence of their fellow-citizens,-if he cannot speak but with great emotion on this subject, surrounded as he is on all
sides with his old friends,- you will have the goodness to excuse me, if my real, unaffected embarrass-. ment prevents me from expressing my gratitude to you as I ought.
I was brought hither under the disadvantage of
being unknown, even by sight,. to any of you. No
previous canvass was made for me. I was put in
nomination after the poll was opened. I did not ap
? ? ? ? 90 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. pear until it was far advanced. If, under all these accumulated disadvantages, your good opinion has carried me to this happy point of success, you will pardon me, if I can only say to you collectively, as I said to you individually, simply and plainly, I thank you,- I am obliged to you, -- I am not insensible
of your kindness.
This is all that I am able to say for the inestimable
favor you have conferred upon me. But I cannot be
satisfied without saying a little more in defence of
the right you have to confer such a favor.
The person that appeared here as counsel for the candidate who so long and so earnestly solicited your votes
thinks proper to deny that a very great part of you
have any votes to give. He fixes a standard period
of time in his own imagination, (not what the law defines, but merely what the convenience of his client suggests,) by which he would cut off at one stroke all
those freedoms which are the dearest privileges of
your corporation, - which the Common Law authorizes, - which your magistrates are compelled to grant, -which come duly authenticated into this court, --
and are saved in the clearest words, and with the
most religious care and tenderness, in that very act
of Parliament which was made to regulate the elections by freemen, and to prevent all possible abuses in making them.
I do not intend to argue the matter here. My
learned counsel has supported your cause with his
usual ability; the worthy sheriffs have acted with
their usual equity; and I have no doubt that the
same equity which dictates the return will guide
the final determination. I had the honor, in conjunction with many far wiser. men, to contribute a
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 91
very small assistance, but, however, some assistance,
to the forming. the judicature which is to try such
questions. It would be unnatural in me to doubt the
justice of that court, in the trial of my own cause, to
which I have been so active to give jurisdiction over
every other.
I assure the worthy freemen, and this corporation,
that, if. the gentleman perseveres in the intentions
which his present warmth dictates to him, I will
attend their cause with diligence, and I hope with
effect. For, if I know anything of myself, it is not
my own interest in it, but my full conviction, that
induces me to tell you, I think there is not a
shadow of doubt in the case. . I do not imagine that you find me rash in declaring
myself, or very forward in troubling yol. . From the
beginning to the end of the election, I have kept silence in all matters of discussion. I have never asked
a question of a voter on the other side, or supported
a. doubtful vote on my own. I respected the abilities
of my managers; I relied on the candor of the court.
I think the worthy sheriffs will bear me witness that
I have never once made an attempt to impose upon
their reason, to surprise their justice, or to ruffle their
temper. I stood on the hustings (except when I gave
my thanks to -those who favored me with their votes)
less like a candidate than an unconcerned spectator
of a public proceeding. But here the face of things
is altered. Here is an attempt for a general massacre of suffrages,-. an attempt, by a promiscuous carnage of friends and foes, to exterminate above two thousand votes, including seven hundred polled for the
gentleman himself who now complains, and who would
destroy the friends whom he has obtained, only
? ? ? ? 92 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
because he cannot obtain as many of them as he
wishes.
How he'will be permitted, ini another place, to stultify and disable himself, and to plead against his own acts, is another question. The law will decide it. I.
shall only speak of it as it concerns the propriety of public conduct in this city. I do not pretend to lay
down rules of decorum for other gentlemen. They
are best judges of the mode of proceeding that will recommend them to the favor of their fellow-citizens.
But I confess I should look rather awkward, if I had
been the very first to produce the new copies of freedom, -if I had persisted in producing them to the last, -
if I had ransacked, with the most unremitting industry and the most penetrating research, the remotest corners of the kingdom to discover them, -. if I were
then, all at once, to turn short, and declare that I
had been sporting all this while with the right of
election, and that I had been drawing out a poll,
upon no sort of rational grounds, which disturbed the
peace of my fellow-citizens for a month together;- I
really, for my part, should appear awkward under
such circumstances.
It would be still more awkward in me, if I were
gravely to look the sheriffs:in the face, and to tell
them they were not to determine my cause on my
own principles, nor to'make the return upon those
votes upon which I had rested my. election. Such
would be my appearance to the court *and magistrates.
But how should I appear to the voters themselves?
If I had gone round to the citizens entitled to freedom, and squeezed them by the hand, -"' Sir, I humbly beg"your vote, -I shall be eternally thankful, --
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 93
may I hope for the honor of your support? . -- Well. !
- come, - we shall see you at the Council-House. "'
-- If I were then to deliver them to my managers,. pack them into tallies, vote them off in court, and
when I heard from the bar, "Such a one only!
and such a one forever! -he. 's my man! "-" Thank
you, good Sir, -- Hah! my worthy friend! thank you
kindly, - that's an honest fellow, - how is your good
family? "- Whilst these words were hardly. out of
my mouth, if I should have wheeled round at once,
and told them, -" Get you gone, you. pack of worthless fellows! you have no votes, - you are usurpers!
you are intruders on the rights of real. freemen! I
will have nothing to do with you! you ought never to
have been produced at this election, and the sheriffs
ought not to have admitted you to poll! "
Gentlemen, I should make a strange figure, if my
conduct had been of this sort. I am not so old
an acquaintance of yours as the worthy gentleman.
Indeedj I could not have ventured on such kind of
freedoms with you. But I am bound, and I will endeavor, to have justice done to the rights of freemen,
- even though I should at the same time be obliged
to vindicate the former * part of my antagonist's conduct against his own present inclinations.
I owe myself, in all things, to all the freemen of
this city. My particular friends have a demand on
me that I should not deceive their expectations.
Never was cause or man supported with more constancy, more activity, more spirit. I have been supported with a zeal, indeed, and heartiness in my friends, which (if their object had been at all propor* -Mr. Brickdale opened his poll, it seemS, with a tally of those
very kind of freemen, and voted many hundreds of them.
? ? ? ? 94 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
tiocned to their endeavors) could:never be sufficiently
commended. They supported me-upon the most liberal principles. They wished that the members: for Bristol should be chosen for the city, and for their
country at large, and not for themselves.
So far they are not disappointed. If I possess
nothing else, I am sure I possess the temper that is
fit for your service. I know nothing of Bristol, but
by the favors I have received, and the virtues I have
seen exerted in it.
I shall ever retain, what I now feel, the most perfect and- grateful attachment to my friends, - and
I have no enmities, no resentments. I never call
consider fidelity to engagements and constancy in
friendships but with the highest approbation, even
when those noble qualities are employed against my
own pretensions. The gentleman who is not so fortunate as I have been in this contest enjoys, in this respect, a consolation full of honor both to himself
and to his friends. They have certainly left nothing
undone for his service.
As for the trifling petulance which the rage of
party stirs up in little minds, though it should show
itself even in this court, it has not made the slightest
impression on me. The highest flight of such clamorous birds is winged in an inferior region of the air. We hear them, and we look upon them, just as you,
Gentlemen, when you enjoy the serene air on your
lofty rocks, look down upon the gulls that skim the
mud of your river, when it is exhausted of its tide.
I am sorry I cannot conclude without saying a
word on a topic touched upon by my worthy colleague. I wish that topic had been passed by at a
time when I have so little leisure to discuss it. But
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 95 since he has thought proper to throw it out, I owe you a clear explanation of my poor sentiments on that subject.
He tells you that "the topic of instructions has
occasioned much altercation and uneasiness in this
city "; and he expresses himself (if I understand him
rightly) in favor of the coercive authority of such instructions.
Certainly, Gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness
and glory of a representative to live in the strictest
union,;the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved co'mmunication with his constituents. Their
wishes ought to have great weight with him; their
opinions- high respect; their business unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his
pleasure, his satisfactions, to theirs, -- and above all,
ever, and in all cases, to prefer their. interest to his
own.
But his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment,
his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice
to you, to any man, or to ally set of men living.
These he does not derive from your pleasure, --no,
nor from the law and the Constitution. They are a
trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is
deeply answerable. Your. representative owes you,
not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your
opinion.
My worthy colleague says, his will ought to be subservient to yours. If that be all, the thing is innocent. If government were a matter of will upon any side, yours, Without question, ought to be superior.
But government and legislation are matters of reason
and judgment,:and not of inclination; and what sort
? ? ? ? 96 SPEECH AT' THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
of reason is that in which the determination precedes
the discussion,:in which one set of men deliberate
and another decide, and where those who form the
conclusion are perhaps three hundred miles distant
from those who hear the arguments?
To deliver an opinion is the right of all men; that
of constituents is a weighty and respectable opinion,
which a representative ought always to rejoice to
hear, and which he ought always most seriously to
consider. But authoritative instructions, mandates
issued, which the member is bound blindly and implicitly to obey, to vote, and to argue for, though
contrary to the clearest conviction of his judgment
-and conscience, -these are things utterly unknown
to the laws of this land, and which arise from a fundamental mistake of the whole order and tenor of our
Constitution.
Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from
different and hostile interests, which interests each
must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; but Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole -where not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting
from the general reason of the whole. You choose
a member, indeed; but when you have chosen him,
he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of
_Parliament. If the local constituent should have
an interest or should form an hasty opinion evidently
opposite to the real good of the rest of the community, the member for that place ought to be as far as
any other from any endeavor to give it effect. I beg
pardon for saying so much on this subject; I have
been unwillingly drawn into it; but I shall ever use
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT THE:CONCLUSION OF THE POLL. 97
a respectful frankness of communication with you.
Your faithful friend, your devoted servant, I shall be
to the end of my life: a flatterer you do not wish for.
On this point of instructions, however, I think it
scarcely possible we ever caii have any sort of difference. Perhaps I may give you too much, rather
than too little trouble.
From the first hour I was encouraged to court your
favor, to this happy day of obtaining it, I have never
promised you anything but humble and persevering
endeavors to do my duty. The weight of that duty,
I confess, makes me tremble; and whoever well considers what it is, of all things in the world, will fly
from what has the least likeness to a positive and precipitate engagement. To be a good member of Parliament is, let me tell you, no easy task, - especially at this time, when there is so strong a disposition to
run into the perilous extremes of servile compliance
or wild popularity. To unite circumspection with
vigor is absolutely necessary, but it is extremely
difficult. We are now members for a rich commercial city; this city, however, is but a part of a rich
commercial nation, the interests of which are various,
multiform, and intricate. We are members for that
great nation, which, however, is itself but part of a
great empire, extended by our virtue and our fortune
to the farthest limits of the East and of the West.
All these wide-spread interests must be considered,must be compared, - must be reconciled, if possible.
We are members for a free country; and surely we
all know that the machine of a free constitution is no
simple thing, but as intricate and as delicate as it is
valuable. We are members in a great and ancient
monarchy; and we must preserve religiously the true,
VOL. II. 7
? ? ? ? 98 SPEECH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE POLL.
legal rights of the sovereign, which form the keystone that binds together the noble and well-constructed arch of our empire and our Constitution. A constitution made up of balanced powers must ever
be a critical thing. As such I mean to touch that
part of it which comes within. my reach. I know my
inability, and I wish for support from every quarter.
In particular I shall aim at the friendship, and shall
cultivate the best correspondence, of the worthy colleague you have given me.
I trouble you no farther than once more to thank
you all: you, Gentlemen, for your favors; the candidates, for their temperate and polite behavior; and
the sheriffs, for a conduct which may give a model
for all who are in public stations.
? ? ? ? SPEECH
ON
MOVING HIS RESOLUTIONS FOR CONCILIATION WITH THE COLONIES. MARCH 22, I775.
? ? ? ? SPEECH. . HOPE, Sir, that, notwithstanding the austerity of the Chair, your good-nature will incline you to
some degree of indulgence towards human frailty.
You will not think it unnatural, that those who have
an object depending, which strongly engages their
hopes and fears, should be somewhat inclined to superstition. As I came into the House, full of anxiety
about the event of my motion, I found,to my infinite
surprise, that the grand. penal bill by which we had
passed sentence on the trade and sustenance of America is to be returned to us from the other House. *. I
do confess, I could not help looking on this event as
a fortunate omen. I look upon it as a sort of Providential favor, by which we are put once more in possession of our deliberative capacity, upon a business so very questionable in its nature, so very uncertain
in its issue. By the return of this bill, which seemed
to have taken its flight forever, we are at this very. instant nearly as free to choose a plan for our, American government as we were on the first day-of the * The act to'restrain the trade and commerce of the provinces of
Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire, and colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island and Providence Plantation,-in North America;
to Great- Britain, Ireland, and the -British Islands in the West Indies; and to. prohibit such provinces and colonies from carrying on
any fishery on the banks of Newfoundland. and other places therein
mentioned, under certain conditions and limitations.
? ? ? ? 102 SPEECH ON CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA.
session. If, Sir, we incline to the side of conciliation,
we are not at all embarrassed (unless we please to
make ourselves so) by any incongruous mixture of
coercion and restraint. We are therefore called up.
on, as it were by a superior warning voice, again to
attend to America, -to attend to the whole of it together, - and to review the subject with an unusual degree of care and calmness.
Surely it is an awful subject,- or there is none so
on this side of the grave. When I first had the
honor of a seat in this House, the affairs of that
continent pressed themselves upon us as the most
important and most delicate object of Parliamentary
attention. My little share in this great deliberation oppressed me. I found myself a partaker in
a very high trust; and having no sort of reason to
rely on the strength of my natural abilities for the
proper execution of that trust, I was obliged to take
more than common pains to instruct myself in everything which relates to our colonies. I was not
less under the necessity of forming some fixed ideas
concerning the general policy of the British empire.
Something of this sort seemed to be indispensable,
in order, amidst so vast a fluctuation of passions and
opinions, to concentre my thoughts, to ballast my
conduct, to preserve me from being blown about
by every wind of fashionable doctrine. I really did
not think it safe or manly to have fresh principles
to seek upon every fresh mail which should arrive
from America.
At that period I had the fortune to find myself
in perfect concurrence with a large majority in this
House.
