The present surrender, therefore, of rights and
*privileges without examination, and the resolution
to support any minister given by the secret advisers
of the crown, determines not only on all the power
and authority of the House, but it settles the character and description of the men who are to compose it,
and perpetuates that character as long as it.
*privileges without examination, and the resolution
to support any minister given by the secret advisers
of the crown, determines not only on all the power
and authority of the House, but it settles the character and description of the men who are to compose it,
and perpetuates that character as long as it.
Edmund Burke
From these
we look for much more than innocence. From these:
we expect zeal, firmness, and unremitted activity. :
Their duty, their character, binds them to proceedings of vigor; and they ought to have a tenure in
their. office which precludes all fear, whilst they are,
acting up to the: purposes of their trust, -- a tenure
without which none will undertake plans that require a series and system of acts. When they know
that they cannot be whispered out of their duty, that
their public conduct cannot be censured without a
public discussion, that the schemes which they have
begun will not be committed to those who will have
an interest and credit in defeating and disgracing:
them, then we may entertain hopes. The tenure is,
for four years, or during their good behavior. That
good behavior is as long as they are true to the principles of the bill; and the judgment is in eitherHouse of Parliament. This is the tenure of your judges; and the valuable principle of the bill is to:
make a judicial administration for India. It is to.
give confidence in the execution of a duty whichre-,
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 581
quires as much perseverance and fortitude as can
fall to the lot'of any that isborn of woman.
As to the gain by party from the right honorable
gentleman's bill,,let it be shown that this supposed
party advantage is pernicious to its object, and the
objection is of weight; but until this is done, (and
this has not been attempted,) I shall consider the sole
objection from its tendency to: promote the interest
of a party as altogether contemptible. The kingdom
is. divided into parties, and it ever has been so divided, and it ever will be so divided; and if no system for. relieving the subjects:of this kingdom from oppression, and snatching its affairs from ruin, can
be adopted, until it is'demonstrated that no party can
derive an advantage from it,. no good can ever be
done in this country. If party is to derive an advantage from the reform of India, (which is more than I
know or believe,) it ought to be that party which
alone in this kingdom has: its reputation, nay, its
very being, pledged to the protection and preservation of that part of the empire. Great fear is expressed: that' the commissioners named in this bill will show some regard to a minister out of place.
To men made like the objectors this must appear
criminal. Let it,, however, ber. emembered by others,
that, if the commissioners should be his friends, they
cannot be his slaves. . But dependants are not in
a condition to adhere to friends, nor to principles, nor
to any uniform line of conduct. They may begin
censors, and be obliged to end accomplices. They
may be even put: under the direction of those whom
they were appointed to punish. .
The fourth and last objection. is, that the bill will
hurt public credit. . I do not: know whether this re
? ? ? ? 532 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
quires an answer. '' But if it does,- look to your foundations. The sinking fund is Jthe pillar of credit
in: this country; and, let it not be forgot, that the
distresses, owing to the mismanagement, of the East'
India Company, have. already taken a million from
that fund by the non-payment of duties. The bills
drawn upon the Company, which are about four millions, cannot be accepted without the consent of the Treasury. The Treasury, acting under a Parliamentary trust and' authority, pledges the'public for these millions. If they pledge the public, the public must
have a security in its: hands for the management. of
this interest, or the national credit is gone. For:
otherwise it is not only the East India Company,
which is a great interest, that is undone, but, clinging
to the security of all your funds, it drags down the
rest, and the whole fabric perishes in one ruin. If
this bill does not provide a direction of integrity and
of ability competent to that trust, the objection is
fatal; if it does, public credit must depend on -the
support of the bill.
It has been said, If you violate this charter, what
security has the charter of the Bank, in which public
credit is so deeply concerned, and even the charter of
London, in which the rights of so many subjects are
involved? I answer, In the like case they have no
security at all,-no, no security at all. If'the Bank
should, by every species of mismanagement, fall into
a state similar to that of the East India Company, - if
it should be oppressed with: demands it could not answer, engagements which it could not perform, and with bills for which it could; not procure payment, -
no charter should protect the mismanagement from
correction, and. such public grievances from redress.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 533
If. the,city. of London had the means and will of de*stroying an empire, and. of, cruelly oppressing'and
-tyrannizing over millions of men as good as themselves, the charter of the city. of London should-prove:no. sanction. to such tyranny and such oppression.
Charters are kept, when. their purposes are maintained. : they are violated, when the privilege is sup-,ported against its end and its object.
Now,: Sir, I have finished all I proposed to say, as
my reasons for giving my, vote to this bill. If I am,wrong, it:. is not for. want of pains to know what is,right. This pledge, at. least, of my rectitude I have
given to my country. . . And now, having done my. duty. to the bill, let me
say a word to the author. I should leave. him to his,own:noble sentiments, if the unworthy and illiberal
language with which he has been treated, beyond all
example of Parliamentary liberty, did not make a few
words necessary,- not so much in justice to him as
~to my own feelings. I must say, then, that it will be
a distinction honorable to the age, that the rescue of:the greatest number of the human race that ever
were so grievously oppressed from the greatest tyranny that was ever exercised has fallen to the lot of. abilities and dispositions equal to the task,- that it. has fallen to one who has the enlargement to comprehend, the spirit to undertake, and the eloquence, to support so great a measure of hazardous benevolence. His spirit is not owing. to' his ignorance'of
the state of men and things: he well knows what
snares are spread about his path, from personal ani-. mosity, from court intrigues, and possibly from popullar delusion. But he has put to hazard his ease, his
security, his interest, his power, even his darling pop
? ? ? ? 534 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
ularity, for the benefit of a people whom he has never
seen. This is the road that all heroes have trod before him. He is traduced and abused for his supposec motives. He will remember that obloquy is a necessary ingredient in the composition of all true
glory: he will remember that it was not only in the
Roman customs, but it is in the nature and constitution of things, that calumny and abuse are essential
parts of triumph. These thoughts will support a
mind which only exists for honor under the burden
of temporary reproach. He is doing, indeed, a great
good, -- such as rarely falls. to the lot, and almost as
rarely coincides with the desires, of any man. Let
him use his time. Let him give the whole length of
the reins to his benevolence. He is now on a great
eminence, where the eyes of mankind are turned to
him. He may live long, he may do much; but
here is the summit: he never can exceed what he
does this day.
He has faults; but they are faults that, though they
may in a small degree tarnish the lustre and sometimes impede the march of his abilities, have nothing
in them to extinguish the fire of great virtues. In
those faults there is no mixture of deceit, of hypocrisy, of pride, of ferocity, of complexional despotism,
or want of feeling for the distresses of mankind.
His are faults which might exist in a descendant of
Henry the Fourth of France, as they did exist in that
father of his country. Henry' the Fourth wished
that he might live to see a fowl in the pot of every
peasant in his kingdom. That sentiment of homely
benevolence was worth all the splendid sayings that
are recorded of kings. But he wished perhaps for
more than could be obtained, and the goodness of
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 535,the man exceeded the power of the king. But this gentleman, a subject, may this. day say this at least
with truth, that he secures the rice in his pot to'every man in India. A poet of antiquity thought it one of the first distinctions to a prince whom he
meant to celebrate, that through a long succession of
generations he had been the progenitor'of an able
and virtuous citizen who by force of the arts of peace
had corrected governments of oppression and suppressed wars of rapine. Indole proh quanta juv. enis, quantumque daturus
Ausoniae populis ventura in ssecula civem I
Ille super Gangem, super exauditus et Indos,
Implebit terras voce, et furialia bella
Fulmine compescet linguae. This was what was said of the predecessor of the only person to whose eloquence it does not wrong that
of the mover of this bill to be compared. But the
Ganges and the Indus are the patrimony of the fame
of my honorable friend, and not of Cicero. I confess I anticipate with joy the reward of those whose whole consequence, power, and authority exist only
for the benefit of mankind; and I carry my mind to
all the people, and all the names and descriptions,
that, relieved by this bill, will bless the labors of this
Parliament, and the confidence which the best House
of Commons has given to him who the best deserves
it. The little cavils of party will not be heard
where freedom and happiness will be felt. There is
not a tongue, a nation, or religion in India, which
will not bless the presiding care and manly be eficence of this House, and of him who proposes to you this great work. Your names will never be separated before the throne of the Divine Goodness, in
? ? ? ? 686 SPEECH ON: MR. : FOX'S -EAST INDIA BILL.
whateveri language; or: with whatever rites, pardon is
asked for sin, and, reward for those who imitate the
Godhead in:His universal bounty to His creatures.
These honors you deserve, and they will surely be
paid, when all the jargon of influence and party
and. patronage are swept into oblivion.
I::have spoken what I think, and what: feel, of the
mover of this:bill. An honorable friend of mine,
speaking of his merits, was charged with having
made a studied panegyric. I don't know what his
was. Mine, I am sure, is a studied panegyric, - the
fruit of much meditation, the result of the observation of near twenty years. For my own part, I am happy that I have'lived to see'this day; I feel myself
overpaid for the labors of eighteen years, when, at
this late period, I am able to take my share, by one
humble vote, in destroying a tyranny that exists to
the disgrace of this nation and the destruction of so
large a part of the human species.
? ? ? ? A
REPRESENTATION TO HIS MAJESTY,
MOVED IN
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
BY THE RIGHT HON. EDMUND BURKE, AND SECONDED BY WILLIAM WINDHAM, ESQ. ,
ON MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1784,
AND NEGATIVED.
WITH A PREFACE AND NOTES.
? ? ? ? PREFACE.
THE representation now given to the public relates to some of the most essential privileges of
the House of Commons. It would appear of little
importance, if it were to be judged by its reception
in the place where it was proposed. There it was
rejected without debate. The subject matter may,
perhaps, hereafter appear to merit a more serious
consideration. Thinking men will scarcely regard
the penal dissolution of a Parliament as a very trifling concern. Such a dissolution must operate forcibly as an example; and it much imports the people of this kingdom to consider what lesson that example
is to teach.
The late House of Commons was not accused of
an interested compliance to the will of a court. The
charge against them was of a different nature. They
were charged with being actuated by an extravagant spirit of independency. This species of offence
is so closely connected with merit, this vice bears
so near a resemblance to virtue, that the flight of
a House of Commons above the exact temperate
medium of independence ought to be correctly ascertained, lest we give encouragement to dispositions
of a less generous nature, and less safe for the people; we ought to call for very solid and convincing
proofs of the existence, and of the magnitude, too,
? ? ? ? 540 PREFACE.
of the evils which are charged to an independent
spirit, before we give sanction to any measure, that,
by checking a spirit so easily damped, and so hard to
be excited, may affect the liberty of a part of our
Constitution, which, if not free, is worse than useless.
The Editor does not deny that by possibility such
an abuse may, exist: but, primd fronte, there is no
-reas6h'to presume it. , The House of Gommons is
not, by' its. complexion,' peculiarly subject to the distempers -of an iindependent habit. Very little compulsion. is necessary, on the part of the people, to render it abundantly complaisant to ministers and
favorites of all'descriptions. It required a great
length of times very considerable industry and perseverance, no vulgar policy, the union of many men
and. many tempers, and the concurrence of events
which do not happen every day, to build up an independent House: of Commons. Its demolition was accomplished in. a. moment; and it was the work of ordinary hands. But to construct is a matter of
skill,; to demolish,:force and fury are sufficient.
The late Oluns'e of Commons has been punished
for its independence. That example is made. Have
we an example On record of a House'of Commons
punished for its servility? The rewards of a senate so disposed are manifest to the world. Several,
gentlemen are very desirous of altering the constitution of the:House of Commons; but they must
alter the frame. and constitution of human nature
itself, before tlheycan so fashion it, by any mode of
election, that its conduct will not be influenced by
reward and punishment, by fame and by disgrace.
If these examples take root. in the minds of men.
? ? ? ? PREFACE. . 541
what members hereafter will be bold'enough not to
be corrupt, especially as the king's highway of obsequiousness is so very broad and easy? To make
a passive member of Parliament, no dignity of mind,
no principles of honor, no resolution, no ability,
no industry, no learning, no experience, are in the
least degree necessary. To defend a post of importance against a powerful enemy requires an Eliot; a drunken invalid is qualified to hoist a white flag, or to deliver up the keys of the fortress on his
knees.
The gentlemen chosen into this Parliament, for
the purpose of this surrender, were bred to better
things, and are no doubt qualified for other service.
But for this strenuous exertion of inactivity, for the
vigorous task of submission and passive obedience, all
their learning and ability are rather a matter of personal ornament to themselves than of the least use
in the performance of their duty.
The present surrender, therefore, of rights and
*privileges without examination, and the resolution
to support any minister given by the secret advisers
of the crown, determines not only on all the power
and authority of the House, but it settles the character and description of the men who are to compose it,
and perpetuates that character as long as it. may be,thought expedient to keep up a phantom of popular
representation.
It is for the chance of some amendment before this
new settlement takes a permanent form, and while
the matter is yet soft and ductile, that the Editor has
republished this piece, and added some notes and
explanations to it. His intentions, he hopes, will
excuse him to the original mover, and to the world.
? ? ? ? 542 PREFACE.
He acts from a strong sense of the incurable ill effects of holding out the conduct of the late House of Commons as an example to be shunned by future
representatives of the people.
? ? ? ? MOTION
RELATIVE TO
THE SPEECH FROM THE THRONE.
LUNA, 14~0 DIE JUNI, 1784.
A MOTION was made, That a representation be
presented to his Majesty, most humbly to offer'
to his royal consideration, that the address of this
House, upon his Majesty's speech from the throne,
was dictated solely by our conviction of his Majesty's own most gracious intentions towards his people, which, as we feel with gratitude, so we are ever
ready to acknowledge with cheerfulness and satisfaction.
Impressed with these sentiments, we were willing
to separate from our general expressions of duty, respect, and veneration to his Majesty's royal person and, his princely virtues all discussion whatever with
relation to several'of the matters suggested and several of the expressions employed in that speech. That it was not fit or becoming that any decided
opinion should be formed by his faithful Commons on
that speech, without a degree of deliberation adequate
to the importance of the object. Having afforded
ourselves due time for that deliberation, we do now
most humbly beg leave to represent to his Majesty,
that, in the speech from the throne, his ministers
have thought proper to use a language of a very
alarming import, unauthorized by the practice of
? ? ? ? 544 MOTION RELATIVE TO THE
good times, and irreconcilable to the principles of
this government.
Humbly to express to his Majesty, that it is the
privilege and duty of this House to guard the Constitution from all infringement on the part of ministers,
aiud, whenever the:occasion requires; it, to warn them
against any abuse of the authorities committed to
them; but it is -very lately,* that, in a manner not
more unseemly than irregular and preposterous, ministers have thought proper, by admonition from the
throne, implying distrust and reproach, to convey'the expectations of the people to us, their sole representatives, t and have. presumed to caution us, the natural guardians of the Constitution, against any
infringement of it on our parts.
This dangerous, innovation we, his faithful: Commons, think it our duty: to mark. ; and as these admonitions from the throne, by their frequent repetition, seem intended to lead gradually to the establishment. of an usage, we hold ourselves bound. thus solemnly
to protest. against them.
This House, will be, as it ever ought to be, anxiously attentive to the inclinations and interests of its
constituents; nor do we desire to straiten any' of the
avenues to the throne,'or to either House. of Parliament. But the. ancient order in which the rights of
the. people have been exercised is not a restriction of
these Frights. It is a method providently framed in
~ See King's Speech, Dec. 5, 1782, and May 19, 1784. '
t "I shall never submit to the doctrines I have heard this day
from the woolsac]k, that the other House [House of Commons]
are the only representatives and guardians of the people's rights. I
boldly maintain the contrary. I say this. House [ House of Lords]
is equally the, representatives of the people. " - Lord Shelburne's Speech,
April 8, 1778. ' Vide Parliamentary Register, Vol. X. p. 392.
? ? ? ? SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. 545
favor of those privileges which it preserves and enforces, by keeping in that course which has been
found the most effectual for answering their ends.
His Majesty may receive the opinions and wishes of
individuals under their signatures, and of bodies corporate under their seals, as:expressing their own particular sense; and he may grant such redress as the legal powers of the crown enable the crown to afford.
This, and the other House of Parliament, may also
receive the wishes of such corporations and individuals by petition. The collective sense of his people
his Majesty is to receive from his Commons in Parliament assembled. It would destroy the whole spirit
of the Cohstitution? if his Commons were to receive
that sense from the ministers of the crown, or to admit them to be a proper or a regular channel for
conveying it.
That the ministers in the said speech declare, " His. Majesty has a just and confident reliance that we (his
faithful Commons) are animated with the same sentiments of loyalty, and the same attachment to our
excellent Constitution which he had the happiness to
see so fully manifested in every part of the kingdom. "'To represent, that his faithful Commons have never
failed in loyalty to his Majesty. It is new to them
to be reminded of it. It is unnecessary and invidious to press it upon them by any example. This
recommendation* of loyalty, after his Majesty has sat
for so many years, with the full support of all descriptions of his subjects, on the throne of this kingdom,
at a time of profound peace, and without any pretence of the existence or apprehension of war or conspiracy, becomes in itself a source of no small jealousy to his faithful Commons; as many circumstances lead
VOL. II. 35
? ? ? ? :546:MOTION RELATIVE TO THE
-us to apprehendthat therein the ministers have referenee to some other measures and principles of loyalty,, and to sosme other ideas of the Constitution, than the,laws. require, or the practice of Parliament will. addmit. . ',,. . . . Io: regular: communication of the proofs of loyalty
tahnd attachment to the Constitution, alluded to in the
speech from. the throne, have been laid before this
H. Iouse, in order to enable us to judge of the nature,
tendency, or occasion of them, or in what particular
acts they were; displayed;ibut if we are to suppose. the. mianifestations of loyalty (which are held out to
uis. as an example for. imitation) consist in certain ad-:dresses delivered to. his Majesty; promising support to. his,Majesty in the exercise of his prerogative, and ~thanking. his Majesty for removing certain of his ministers, on account of the votes they havegiven upon
bills- depending:in Parliament, - if. this be the ex-. ample of loyalty alluded to in the speech from the
throne,. then we must beg leave to express our seri~ous concern: forA the impression which has been made. on. any of our fellow-subjects by misrepresentations which have seduced them into a seeming approbation
of. proceedings subversive of their own freedom. We
conceive that the opinions delivered in these papers
were not well considered; nor were the parties duly
informed of the nature. of the matters on. which they
were called todetermine, nor of those proceedings' of
Parliament which they. were led to censure.
We. shall act more advisedly. - The loyalty we
shall,manifest. will not be the same with theirs; but,
we. tr;ust, it will be equally sincere, and more enlightened. It is no slight. authority which shall persuade
us. (by receiving as proofs of' loyalty the. mistaken
? ? ? ? SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. 5'47
principles lightly taken up in these addresses) obliquely to- criminate, with the heavy and ungrounded
charge. of: disloyalty and disaffection, an uncorrupt,
independent, and. . reforming Parliament. * Above
all, we shall take care that. none:of the rights and
privileges,. always claimed, and. since the accession of
his. Majesty's illustrious. family constantly exercised
by this Iouse,'(and which. we hold and exercise in
trust for: the Commons of Great Britain,:. and for. their
benefit,) shall be. constructively surrendered,: or even
weakened and impaired,. . under: ambiguous phrases
and implications of censure -on the late Parliamentary
proceedings. i If: these. , claims. are,not well founded,
they ought to. be honestly. abandoned; if they. are
just,- they ought to be steadily and resolutely main-;. tained. . . . . . .
Of his. . Majesty's own gracious. disposition towards
the true principles of our. free: Constitution his faith-* In that Parliament the House: of Commons by -two. several- resolutions put an end to:ithe American. war. Immediately, on the
change of. ministry, which ensued,. in order to secure their own inde-,pendence, and- to. prevent the. accumulation of new burdens on the
people by the:growth of a civil list debt, they passed the Establishment Bill. By that:bill thirty-six offices tenable by members of Parliament were suppressed, and an-order. . of payment was framed by which the growth of any fresh debt was rendered impracticable. The
debt on -the. civil list from the beginning of. the. . present reign had
amounted to one million three. hundred thousand pounds and-upwards.
Another act. was passed for regulating the office. of the PaymasterGeneral and the offices subordinate to it. . . A million of public money
had sometimes. been in the hands of the paymasters: this act-prevented
the possibility of any money whatsoever being'accumulated in that office in:future. The offices of the Exchequer, whose. emoluments in time
of war were. excessive, and grew in. exact proportion to:the public burdens, were regulated, -. some of them. suppressed, and the rest reduced
to fixed salaries. . To secure the freedom of election against the crown)
a bill was passed to disqualify all officers concerned in the collection
? ? ? ? 548 MOTION RELATIVE TO THE
ful Commons never did or could entertain a doubt;
but we humbly beg leave to express to his Majesty
our uneasiness concerning other new and unusual
expressions of his ministers, declaratory of a resolu-tion "to support in their just balance the rights and
privileges of every branch of the legislature. "
It were desirable that all hazardous theories concerning a balance of rights and privileges (a mode of
expression wholly foreign to Parliamentary usage)
might have been forborne. His Majesty's faithful
Commons are well instructed in their own rights and
privileges, which they are determined to maintain on
the footing upon which they were handed down from
their ancestors; they are not unacquainted with the
rights and privileges of the House, of Peers; and
they know and respect the lawful prerogatives of the
crown: but they do not think it safe to admit. anything concerning the existence of a balance of those
of the revenue in any of its branches from voting in elections: a most
important act, not only with regard to its primary object, the freedom
of election, but as materially forwarding the due collection of revenue. 'For the same end, (the preserving the freedom of election,) the House
rescinded the famous judgment relative to the Middlesex election, and
expunged it from the journals. -On the principle of reformation of
their own House, connected with a principle of public economy,; an act
passed for rendering contractors with government incapable of a seat
in-Parliament. The India Bill (unfortunately lost in the House of
Lords) pursued the same idea to its completion, and disabled all servants of the East India Company from a seat in that House: for a certain time, and until their conduct was examined into and cleared. The remedy of infinite corruptions and of infinite disorders and oppressions,'as well as the security of the most important objects of public
economy, perished with that bill and that Parliament. That Parliament also instituted a committee to inquire into the collection of the
revenue in all its branches, which prosecuted its duty with great
vigor, and suggested several material improvements.
? ? ? ? SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. 549
rights, privileges, and prerogatives; nor are they able
to discern to what objects ministers would apply their
fiction of a balance, nor what they would consider
as a just one. These unauthorized doctrines have a
tendency to stir improper discussions, and to lead to'mischievous innovations in the Constitution. '*
* If these speculations are let loose, the House of Lords may quarrel with their share of the legislature, as being limited with regard to the origination of grants to the crown and the origination of money
bills. The advisers of the crown may think proper to bring its negative into ordinary use, - and even to dispute, whether a mere nega-: tive, compared with the deliberative power exercised in the other
Houses, be such a share in the legislature as to produce a due balance
in favor of that branch, and thus justify the previous interference of
the crown in the manner lately used. The following will serve to
show how much foundation there is for. great caution concerning
these novel speculations. Lord Shelburne, in his celebrated speech,
April 8th, 1778, expresses himself as follows. (Vide Parliamentary
Register, Vol. X.
we look for much more than innocence. From these:
we expect zeal, firmness, and unremitted activity. :
Their duty, their character, binds them to proceedings of vigor; and they ought to have a tenure in
their. office which precludes all fear, whilst they are,
acting up to the: purposes of their trust, -- a tenure
without which none will undertake plans that require a series and system of acts. When they know
that they cannot be whispered out of their duty, that
their public conduct cannot be censured without a
public discussion, that the schemes which they have
begun will not be committed to those who will have
an interest and credit in defeating and disgracing:
them, then we may entertain hopes. The tenure is,
for four years, or during their good behavior. That
good behavior is as long as they are true to the principles of the bill; and the judgment is in eitherHouse of Parliament. This is the tenure of your judges; and the valuable principle of the bill is to:
make a judicial administration for India. It is to.
give confidence in the execution of a duty whichre-,
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 581
quires as much perseverance and fortitude as can
fall to the lot'of any that isborn of woman.
As to the gain by party from the right honorable
gentleman's bill,,let it be shown that this supposed
party advantage is pernicious to its object, and the
objection is of weight; but until this is done, (and
this has not been attempted,) I shall consider the sole
objection from its tendency to: promote the interest
of a party as altogether contemptible. The kingdom
is. divided into parties, and it ever has been so divided, and it ever will be so divided; and if no system for. relieving the subjects:of this kingdom from oppression, and snatching its affairs from ruin, can
be adopted, until it is'demonstrated that no party can
derive an advantage from it,. no good can ever be
done in this country. If party is to derive an advantage from the reform of India, (which is more than I
know or believe,) it ought to be that party which
alone in this kingdom has: its reputation, nay, its
very being, pledged to the protection and preservation of that part of the empire. Great fear is expressed: that' the commissioners named in this bill will show some regard to a minister out of place.
To men made like the objectors this must appear
criminal. Let it,, however, ber. emembered by others,
that, if the commissioners should be his friends, they
cannot be his slaves. . But dependants are not in
a condition to adhere to friends, nor to principles, nor
to any uniform line of conduct. They may begin
censors, and be obliged to end accomplices. They
may be even put: under the direction of those whom
they were appointed to punish. .
The fourth and last objection. is, that the bill will
hurt public credit. . I do not: know whether this re
? ? ? ? 532 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
quires an answer. '' But if it does,- look to your foundations. The sinking fund is Jthe pillar of credit
in: this country; and, let it not be forgot, that the
distresses, owing to the mismanagement, of the East'
India Company, have. already taken a million from
that fund by the non-payment of duties. The bills
drawn upon the Company, which are about four millions, cannot be accepted without the consent of the Treasury. The Treasury, acting under a Parliamentary trust and' authority, pledges the'public for these millions. If they pledge the public, the public must
have a security in its: hands for the management. of
this interest, or the national credit is gone. For:
otherwise it is not only the East India Company,
which is a great interest, that is undone, but, clinging
to the security of all your funds, it drags down the
rest, and the whole fabric perishes in one ruin. If
this bill does not provide a direction of integrity and
of ability competent to that trust, the objection is
fatal; if it does, public credit must depend on -the
support of the bill.
It has been said, If you violate this charter, what
security has the charter of the Bank, in which public
credit is so deeply concerned, and even the charter of
London, in which the rights of so many subjects are
involved? I answer, In the like case they have no
security at all,-no, no security at all. If'the Bank
should, by every species of mismanagement, fall into
a state similar to that of the East India Company, - if
it should be oppressed with: demands it could not answer, engagements which it could not perform, and with bills for which it could; not procure payment, -
no charter should protect the mismanagement from
correction, and. such public grievances from redress.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 533
If. the,city. of London had the means and will of de*stroying an empire, and. of, cruelly oppressing'and
-tyrannizing over millions of men as good as themselves, the charter of the city. of London should-prove:no. sanction. to such tyranny and such oppression.
Charters are kept, when. their purposes are maintained. : they are violated, when the privilege is sup-,ported against its end and its object.
Now,: Sir, I have finished all I proposed to say, as
my reasons for giving my, vote to this bill. If I am,wrong, it:. is not for. want of pains to know what is,right. This pledge, at. least, of my rectitude I have
given to my country. . . And now, having done my. duty. to the bill, let me
say a word to the author. I should leave. him to his,own:noble sentiments, if the unworthy and illiberal
language with which he has been treated, beyond all
example of Parliamentary liberty, did not make a few
words necessary,- not so much in justice to him as
~to my own feelings. I must say, then, that it will be
a distinction honorable to the age, that the rescue of:the greatest number of the human race that ever
were so grievously oppressed from the greatest tyranny that was ever exercised has fallen to the lot of. abilities and dispositions equal to the task,- that it. has fallen to one who has the enlargement to comprehend, the spirit to undertake, and the eloquence, to support so great a measure of hazardous benevolence. His spirit is not owing. to' his ignorance'of
the state of men and things: he well knows what
snares are spread about his path, from personal ani-. mosity, from court intrigues, and possibly from popullar delusion. But he has put to hazard his ease, his
security, his interest, his power, even his darling pop
? ? ? ? 534 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
ularity, for the benefit of a people whom he has never
seen. This is the road that all heroes have trod before him. He is traduced and abused for his supposec motives. He will remember that obloquy is a necessary ingredient in the composition of all true
glory: he will remember that it was not only in the
Roman customs, but it is in the nature and constitution of things, that calumny and abuse are essential
parts of triumph. These thoughts will support a
mind which only exists for honor under the burden
of temporary reproach. He is doing, indeed, a great
good, -- such as rarely falls. to the lot, and almost as
rarely coincides with the desires, of any man. Let
him use his time. Let him give the whole length of
the reins to his benevolence. He is now on a great
eminence, where the eyes of mankind are turned to
him. He may live long, he may do much; but
here is the summit: he never can exceed what he
does this day.
He has faults; but they are faults that, though they
may in a small degree tarnish the lustre and sometimes impede the march of his abilities, have nothing
in them to extinguish the fire of great virtues. In
those faults there is no mixture of deceit, of hypocrisy, of pride, of ferocity, of complexional despotism,
or want of feeling for the distresses of mankind.
His are faults which might exist in a descendant of
Henry the Fourth of France, as they did exist in that
father of his country. Henry' the Fourth wished
that he might live to see a fowl in the pot of every
peasant in his kingdom. That sentiment of homely
benevolence was worth all the splendid sayings that
are recorded of kings. But he wished perhaps for
more than could be obtained, and the goodness of
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 535,the man exceeded the power of the king. But this gentleman, a subject, may this. day say this at least
with truth, that he secures the rice in his pot to'every man in India. A poet of antiquity thought it one of the first distinctions to a prince whom he
meant to celebrate, that through a long succession of
generations he had been the progenitor'of an able
and virtuous citizen who by force of the arts of peace
had corrected governments of oppression and suppressed wars of rapine. Indole proh quanta juv. enis, quantumque daturus
Ausoniae populis ventura in ssecula civem I
Ille super Gangem, super exauditus et Indos,
Implebit terras voce, et furialia bella
Fulmine compescet linguae. This was what was said of the predecessor of the only person to whose eloquence it does not wrong that
of the mover of this bill to be compared. But the
Ganges and the Indus are the patrimony of the fame
of my honorable friend, and not of Cicero. I confess I anticipate with joy the reward of those whose whole consequence, power, and authority exist only
for the benefit of mankind; and I carry my mind to
all the people, and all the names and descriptions,
that, relieved by this bill, will bless the labors of this
Parliament, and the confidence which the best House
of Commons has given to him who the best deserves
it. The little cavils of party will not be heard
where freedom and happiness will be felt. There is
not a tongue, a nation, or religion in India, which
will not bless the presiding care and manly be eficence of this House, and of him who proposes to you this great work. Your names will never be separated before the throne of the Divine Goodness, in
? ? ? ? 686 SPEECH ON: MR. : FOX'S -EAST INDIA BILL.
whateveri language; or: with whatever rites, pardon is
asked for sin, and, reward for those who imitate the
Godhead in:His universal bounty to His creatures.
These honors you deserve, and they will surely be
paid, when all the jargon of influence and party
and. patronage are swept into oblivion.
I::have spoken what I think, and what: feel, of the
mover of this:bill. An honorable friend of mine,
speaking of his merits, was charged with having
made a studied panegyric. I don't know what his
was. Mine, I am sure, is a studied panegyric, - the
fruit of much meditation, the result of the observation of near twenty years. For my own part, I am happy that I have'lived to see'this day; I feel myself
overpaid for the labors of eighteen years, when, at
this late period, I am able to take my share, by one
humble vote, in destroying a tyranny that exists to
the disgrace of this nation and the destruction of so
large a part of the human species.
? ? ? ? A
REPRESENTATION TO HIS MAJESTY,
MOVED IN
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
BY THE RIGHT HON. EDMUND BURKE, AND SECONDED BY WILLIAM WINDHAM, ESQ. ,
ON MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1784,
AND NEGATIVED.
WITH A PREFACE AND NOTES.
? ? ? ? PREFACE.
THE representation now given to the public relates to some of the most essential privileges of
the House of Commons. It would appear of little
importance, if it were to be judged by its reception
in the place where it was proposed. There it was
rejected without debate. The subject matter may,
perhaps, hereafter appear to merit a more serious
consideration. Thinking men will scarcely regard
the penal dissolution of a Parliament as a very trifling concern. Such a dissolution must operate forcibly as an example; and it much imports the people of this kingdom to consider what lesson that example
is to teach.
The late House of Commons was not accused of
an interested compliance to the will of a court. The
charge against them was of a different nature. They
were charged with being actuated by an extravagant spirit of independency. This species of offence
is so closely connected with merit, this vice bears
so near a resemblance to virtue, that the flight of
a House of Commons above the exact temperate
medium of independence ought to be correctly ascertained, lest we give encouragement to dispositions
of a less generous nature, and less safe for the people; we ought to call for very solid and convincing
proofs of the existence, and of the magnitude, too,
? ? ? ? 540 PREFACE.
of the evils which are charged to an independent
spirit, before we give sanction to any measure, that,
by checking a spirit so easily damped, and so hard to
be excited, may affect the liberty of a part of our
Constitution, which, if not free, is worse than useless.
The Editor does not deny that by possibility such
an abuse may, exist: but, primd fronte, there is no
-reas6h'to presume it. , The House of Gommons is
not, by' its. complexion,' peculiarly subject to the distempers -of an iindependent habit. Very little compulsion. is necessary, on the part of the people, to render it abundantly complaisant to ministers and
favorites of all'descriptions. It required a great
length of times very considerable industry and perseverance, no vulgar policy, the union of many men
and. many tempers, and the concurrence of events
which do not happen every day, to build up an independent House: of Commons. Its demolition was accomplished in. a. moment; and it was the work of ordinary hands. But to construct is a matter of
skill,; to demolish,:force and fury are sufficient.
The late Oluns'e of Commons has been punished
for its independence. That example is made. Have
we an example On record of a House'of Commons
punished for its servility? The rewards of a senate so disposed are manifest to the world. Several,
gentlemen are very desirous of altering the constitution of the:House of Commons; but they must
alter the frame. and constitution of human nature
itself, before tlheycan so fashion it, by any mode of
election, that its conduct will not be influenced by
reward and punishment, by fame and by disgrace.
If these examples take root. in the minds of men.
? ? ? ? PREFACE. . 541
what members hereafter will be bold'enough not to
be corrupt, especially as the king's highway of obsequiousness is so very broad and easy? To make
a passive member of Parliament, no dignity of mind,
no principles of honor, no resolution, no ability,
no industry, no learning, no experience, are in the
least degree necessary. To defend a post of importance against a powerful enemy requires an Eliot; a drunken invalid is qualified to hoist a white flag, or to deliver up the keys of the fortress on his
knees.
The gentlemen chosen into this Parliament, for
the purpose of this surrender, were bred to better
things, and are no doubt qualified for other service.
But for this strenuous exertion of inactivity, for the
vigorous task of submission and passive obedience, all
their learning and ability are rather a matter of personal ornament to themselves than of the least use
in the performance of their duty.
The present surrender, therefore, of rights and
*privileges without examination, and the resolution
to support any minister given by the secret advisers
of the crown, determines not only on all the power
and authority of the House, but it settles the character and description of the men who are to compose it,
and perpetuates that character as long as it. may be,thought expedient to keep up a phantom of popular
representation.
It is for the chance of some amendment before this
new settlement takes a permanent form, and while
the matter is yet soft and ductile, that the Editor has
republished this piece, and added some notes and
explanations to it. His intentions, he hopes, will
excuse him to the original mover, and to the world.
? ? ? ? 542 PREFACE.
He acts from a strong sense of the incurable ill effects of holding out the conduct of the late House of Commons as an example to be shunned by future
representatives of the people.
? ? ? ? MOTION
RELATIVE TO
THE SPEECH FROM THE THRONE.
LUNA, 14~0 DIE JUNI, 1784.
A MOTION was made, That a representation be
presented to his Majesty, most humbly to offer'
to his royal consideration, that the address of this
House, upon his Majesty's speech from the throne,
was dictated solely by our conviction of his Majesty's own most gracious intentions towards his people, which, as we feel with gratitude, so we are ever
ready to acknowledge with cheerfulness and satisfaction.
Impressed with these sentiments, we were willing
to separate from our general expressions of duty, respect, and veneration to his Majesty's royal person and, his princely virtues all discussion whatever with
relation to several'of the matters suggested and several of the expressions employed in that speech. That it was not fit or becoming that any decided
opinion should be formed by his faithful Commons on
that speech, without a degree of deliberation adequate
to the importance of the object. Having afforded
ourselves due time for that deliberation, we do now
most humbly beg leave to represent to his Majesty,
that, in the speech from the throne, his ministers
have thought proper to use a language of a very
alarming import, unauthorized by the practice of
? ? ? ? 544 MOTION RELATIVE TO THE
good times, and irreconcilable to the principles of
this government.
Humbly to express to his Majesty, that it is the
privilege and duty of this House to guard the Constitution from all infringement on the part of ministers,
aiud, whenever the:occasion requires; it, to warn them
against any abuse of the authorities committed to
them; but it is -very lately,* that, in a manner not
more unseemly than irregular and preposterous, ministers have thought proper, by admonition from the
throne, implying distrust and reproach, to convey'the expectations of the people to us, their sole representatives, t and have. presumed to caution us, the natural guardians of the Constitution, against any
infringement of it on our parts.
This dangerous, innovation we, his faithful: Commons, think it our duty: to mark. ; and as these admonitions from the throne, by their frequent repetition, seem intended to lead gradually to the establishment. of an usage, we hold ourselves bound. thus solemnly
to protest. against them.
This House, will be, as it ever ought to be, anxiously attentive to the inclinations and interests of its
constituents; nor do we desire to straiten any' of the
avenues to the throne,'or to either House. of Parliament. But the. ancient order in which the rights of
the. people have been exercised is not a restriction of
these Frights. It is a method providently framed in
~ See King's Speech, Dec. 5, 1782, and May 19, 1784. '
t "I shall never submit to the doctrines I have heard this day
from the woolsac]k, that the other House [House of Commons]
are the only representatives and guardians of the people's rights. I
boldly maintain the contrary. I say this. House [ House of Lords]
is equally the, representatives of the people. " - Lord Shelburne's Speech,
April 8, 1778. ' Vide Parliamentary Register, Vol. X. p. 392.
? ? ? ? SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. 545
favor of those privileges which it preserves and enforces, by keeping in that course which has been
found the most effectual for answering their ends.
His Majesty may receive the opinions and wishes of
individuals under their signatures, and of bodies corporate under their seals, as:expressing their own particular sense; and he may grant such redress as the legal powers of the crown enable the crown to afford.
This, and the other House of Parliament, may also
receive the wishes of such corporations and individuals by petition. The collective sense of his people
his Majesty is to receive from his Commons in Parliament assembled. It would destroy the whole spirit
of the Cohstitution? if his Commons were to receive
that sense from the ministers of the crown, or to admit them to be a proper or a regular channel for
conveying it.
That the ministers in the said speech declare, " His. Majesty has a just and confident reliance that we (his
faithful Commons) are animated with the same sentiments of loyalty, and the same attachment to our
excellent Constitution which he had the happiness to
see so fully manifested in every part of the kingdom. "'To represent, that his faithful Commons have never
failed in loyalty to his Majesty. It is new to them
to be reminded of it. It is unnecessary and invidious to press it upon them by any example. This
recommendation* of loyalty, after his Majesty has sat
for so many years, with the full support of all descriptions of his subjects, on the throne of this kingdom,
at a time of profound peace, and without any pretence of the existence or apprehension of war or conspiracy, becomes in itself a source of no small jealousy to his faithful Commons; as many circumstances lead
VOL. II. 35
? ? ? ? :546:MOTION RELATIVE TO THE
-us to apprehendthat therein the ministers have referenee to some other measures and principles of loyalty,, and to sosme other ideas of the Constitution, than the,laws. require, or the practice of Parliament will. addmit. . ',,. . . . Io: regular: communication of the proofs of loyalty
tahnd attachment to the Constitution, alluded to in the
speech from. the throne, have been laid before this
H. Iouse, in order to enable us to judge of the nature,
tendency, or occasion of them, or in what particular
acts they were; displayed;ibut if we are to suppose. the. mianifestations of loyalty (which are held out to
uis. as an example for. imitation) consist in certain ad-:dresses delivered to. his Majesty; promising support to. his,Majesty in the exercise of his prerogative, and ~thanking. his Majesty for removing certain of his ministers, on account of the votes they havegiven upon
bills- depending:in Parliament, - if. this be the ex-. ample of loyalty alluded to in the speech from the
throne,. then we must beg leave to express our seri~ous concern: forA the impression which has been made. on. any of our fellow-subjects by misrepresentations which have seduced them into a seeming approbation
of. proceedings subversive of their own freedom. We
conceive that the opinions delivered in these papers
were not well considered; nor were the parties duly
informed of the nature. of the matters on. which they
were called todetermine, nor of those proceedings' of
Parliament which they. were led to censure.
We. shall act more advisedly. - The loyalty we
shall,manifest. will not be the same with theirs; but,
we. tr;ust, it will be equally sincere, and more enlightened. It is no slight. authority which shall persuade
us. (by receiving as proofs of' loyalty the. mistaken
? ? ? ? SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. 5'47
principles lightly taken up in these addresses) obliquely to- criminate, with the heavy and ungrounded
charge. of: disloyalty and disaffection, an uncorrupt,
independent, and. . reforming Parliament. * Above
all, we shall take care that. none:of the rights and
privileges,. always claimed, and. since the accession of
his. Majesty's illustrious. family constantly exercised
by this Iouse,'(and which. we hold and exercise in
trust for: the Commons of Great Britain,:. and for. their
benefit,) shall be. constructively surrendered,: or even
weakened and impaired,. . under: ambiguous phrases
and implications of censure -on the late Parliamentary
proceedings. i If: these. , claims. are,not well founded,
they ought to. be honestly. abandoned; if they. are
just,- they ought to be steadily and resolutely main-;. tained. . . . . . .
Of his. . Majesty's own gracious. disposition towards
the true principles of our. free: Constitution his faith-* In that Parliament the House: of Commons by -two. several- resolutions put an end to:ithe American. war. Immediately, on the
change of. ministry, which ensued,. in order to secure their own inde-,pendence, and- to. prevent the. accumulation of new burdens on the
people by the:growth of a civil list debt, they passed the Establishment Bill. By that:bill thirty-six offices tenable by members of Parliament were suppressed, and an-order. . of payment was framed by which the growth of any fresh debt was rendered impracticable. The
debt on -the. civil list from the beginning of. the. . present reign had
amounted to one million three. hundred thousand pounds and-upwards.
Another act. was passed for regulating the office. of the PaymasterGeneral and the offices subordinate to it. . . A million of public money
had sometimes. been in the hands of the paymasters: this act-prevented
the possibility of any money whatsoever being'accumulated in that office in:future. The offices of the Exchequer, whose. emoluments in time
of war were. excessive, and grew in. exact proportion to:the public burdens, were regulated, -. some of them. suppressed, and the rest reduced
to fixed salaries. . To secure the freedom of election against the crown)
a bill was passed to disqualify all officers concerned in the collection
? ? ? ? 548 MOTION RELATIVE TO THE
ful Commons never did or could entertain a doubt;
but we humbly beg leave to express to his Majesty
our uneasiness concerning other new and unusual
expressions of his ministers, declaratory of a resolu-tion "to support in their just balance the rights and
privileges of every branch of the legislature. "
It were desirable that all hazardous theories concerning a balance of rights and privileges (a mode of
expression wholly foreign to Parliamentary usage)
might have been forborne. His Majesty's faithful
Commons are well instructed in their own rights and
privileges, which they are determined to maintain on
the footing upon which they were handed down from
their ancestors; they are not unacquainted with the
rights and privileges of the House, of Peers; and
they know and respect the lawful prerogatives of the
crown: but they do not think it safe to admit. anything concerning the existence of a balance of those
of the revenue in any of its branches from voting in elections: a most
important act, not only with regard to its primary object, the freedom
of election, but as materially forwarding the due collection of revenue. 'For the same end, (the preserving the freedom of election,) the House
rescinded the famous judgment relative to the Middlesex election, and
expunged it from the journals. -On the principle of reformation of
their own House, connected with a principle of public economy,; an act
passed for rendering contractors with government incapable of a seat
in-Parliament. The India Bill (unfortunately lost in the House of
Lords) pursued the same idea to its completion, and disabled all servants of the East India Company from a seat in that House: for a certain time, and until their conduct was examined into and cleared. The remedy of infinite corruptions and of infinite disorders and oppressions,'as well as the security of the most important objects of public
economy, perished with that bill and that Parliament. That Parliament also instituted a committee to inquire into the collection of the
revenue in all its branches, which prosecuted its duty with great
vigor, and suggested several material improvements.
? ? ? ? SPEECH FROM THE THRONE. 549
rights, privileges, and prerogatives; nor are they able
to discern to what objects ministers would apply their
fiction of a balance, nor what they would consider
as a just one. These unauthorized doctrines have a
tendency to stir improper discussions, and to lead to'mischievous innovations in the Constitution. '*
* If these speculations are let loose, the House of Lords may quarrel with their share of the legislature, as being limited with regard to the origination of grants to the crown and the origination of money
bills. The advisers of the crown may think proper to bring its negative into ordinary use, - and even to dispute, whether a mere nega-: tive, compared with the deliberative power exercised in the other
Houses, be such a share in the legislature as to produce a due balance
in favor of that branch, and thus justify the previous interference of
the crown in the manner lately used. The following will serve to
show how much foundation there is for. great caution concerning
these novel speculations. Lord Shelburne, in his celebrated speech,
April 8th, 1778, expresses himself as follows. (Vide Parliamentary
Register, Vol. X.
