I am not- I am not
at, all ashamed to look upon you; nor can my presen'ie discompose the order of business here.
at, all ashamed to look upon you; nor can my presen'ie discompose the order of business here.
Edmund Burke
Were we to wait for
the profound lectures on the reason of state, ecclesiastical and political, which the Protestant Association
have since condescended to read to us? Or were we,
seven hundred peers and commoners, the only persons ignorant of the ribald invectives which occupy
the place of argument in those remonstrances, which
every man of common observation had heard a thousand times over, and a thousand times over had despised? All men had before heard what they have to say, and all men at this day know what they dare to
do; and I trust all honest men are equally influenced
by the one and by the other.
But they tell us, that those our fellow-citizens
whose chains we have a little relaxed are enemies
to liberty and our free Constitution. -Not enemies,
I presume, to their own liberty. And as. to the
? ? ? ? 416 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
Constitution, until we give them some share in it, I
do not know on what pretence we can examine into
their opinions about a business in which they have no
interest or concern. But, after all, are we equally
sure that they are adverse to our Constitution as that
our statutes are hostile and destructive to them? For
my part, I have reason to believe their opinions and
inclinations in that respect are various, exactly like
those of other men; and if they lean more to the
crown than I and than many of you think we ought,
we must remember that he who aims at another's
life is not to be surprised, if he flies into ally sanctuary that will receive him. The tenderness of the executive power is the natural asylum of those upon whom the laws have declared war; and to complain
that men, are inclined to favor the means of their own
safety is so absurd, that one forgets the injustice in
the ridicule.
I must fairly tell you, that so far as my principles
are concerned, (principles that I hope will only depart
with my last breath,) that I have no idea of a liberty
unconnected with honesty and justice. Nor do I believe that any good constitutions of government, or of
freedom, can find it necessary for their security to
doom any part of the people to a permanent slavery.
Such a constitution of freedom, if such can be, is in effect no more than another name for the tyranny of the
strongest faction; and factions in republics have been,
and are, full as capable as monarchs of the most cruel
oppression and injustice. It is but too true, that the
love, and even the very idea, of genuine liberty is extremely rare. It is but too true that there are many
whose whole scheme of freedom is made up of pride,
perverseness, and insolence. They feel themselves in
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 417
a state of thraldom, they imagine that their souls are
cooped and cabined in, unless they have some man
or some body of men dependent on their mercy.
This desire of having some one below them descends
to those who are the very lowest of all; and a Protestant cobbler, debased by his poverty, but exalted by
his share of the ruling church, feels a pride in knowing it is by his generosity alone that the peer whose
footman's instep he measures is able to keep his chaplain from a jail. This disposition is the true source
of the passion which many men in very humble life
have taken to the American war. Our subjects in
America; our colonies; our dependants. This lust
of party power is the liberty they hunger and thirst
for; and this Siren song of ambition has charmed
ears tliat one would have thought were never organized to that sort of music.
This way of proscribing the citizens by denominations
and general descriptions, dignified by the name of reason of state, and security for constitutions and commonwealths, is nothing better at bottom than the miserable invention of an ungenerous ambition which would fain hold the sacred trust of power, without
any of the virtues or any of the energies that give
a title to it,- a receipt of policy, made up of a detestable compound of malice, cowardice, and sloth.
They would govern men against their will; but in
that government they would be discharged from the
exercise of vigilance, providence, and fortitude; and
therefore, that they may sleep on their watch, they
consent to take some one division of the society into
partnership of the tyranny over the rest. But let
government, in what form it may be, comprehend
the whole in its justice, and restrain the suspicious
VOL. II. 27
? ? ? ? 418 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
by its vigilance, - let it keep watch and ward, -- let it
discover by its sagacity, and punish by its firmness,
all delinquency against its power, whenever delinquency exists in the overt acts, - and then it will be
as safe as ever God and Nature intended it should
be. Crimes are the acts of individuals, and not of
denominations: and therefore arbitrarily to class men
under general descriptions, in order to proscribe and
punish them in the lump for a presumed delinquency, of which perhaps but a part, perhaps none at all, are guilty, is indeed a compendious method, and saves
a world of trouble about proof; but such a method,
instead of being law, is an act of unnatural rebellion
against the legal dominion of reason and justice; and
this vice, in any constitution that entertains it, at one
time or other will certainly bring on its ruin.
We are told that this is not a religious persecution;
and its abettors are loud in disclaiming all severities
on account of conscience. Very fine indeed! Then
let it be so: they are not persecutors; they are only
tyrants. With all my heart. I am perfectly indifferent concerning the -pretexts upon which we torment one another, - or whether it be for the constitution of
the Church of England, or for the constitution of the
State o! . England, that people choose to make their
fellow-creatures wretched. When we were sent into
a place of authority, you that sent us had yourselves
but one commission to give. You could give us none
to wrong or oppress, or even to suffer any kind of oppression or wrong, on any grounds whatsoever: not on political, as in the affairs of America; not on commercial, as in those of Ireland; not in civil, as in the laws for debt; not in religious, as in the statutes
against Protestant or Catholic dissenters. The diver
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 419
sified, but connected, fabric of universal justice is well
cramped and bolted together in all its parts; and depend upon it, I never have employed, and- I never shall employ, any engine of power which may come into my
hands to wrench it asunder. All shall stand, if I can
help it, and all shall stand connected. After all, to
complete this wbrk, much remains to be done: much
in the East, much in the West. But, great as the work
is, if our will be ready, our powers are not deficient.
Since you have suffered me to trouble you so much
on this subject, permit me, Gentlemen, to detain you
a little longer. I am, indeed, most solicitous to give
you perfect satisfaction. I find there are some of a
better and softer nature than the persons with whom
I have supposed myself in debate, who neither think ill
of the act of relief, nor by any means desire the repeal,
-yet who, not accusing, but lamenting, what was
done, on account of the consequences, have frequently
expressed their wish that the late act had never been
made. Some of this description, and persons of worth,
I have met with in this city. They conceive that the
prejudices, whatever they might be, of a large part of
the people, ought not to have been shocked, -that
their opinions ought to have been previously taken,
and much attended to, - and that thereby the late
horrid scenes might have been prevented.
I confess, my notions are widely different; and I
never was less sorry for any action of my life. I like
the bill the better on account of the events of all
kinds that followed it. It relieved the real sufferers;
it strengthened the state; and, by the disorders that
ensued, we had clear evidence that there lurked a
temper somewhere which ought not to be fostered
by the laws. No ill consequences whatever could be
? ? ? ? 420 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
attributed to the act itself. We knew beforehand,
or we were poorly instructed, that toleration is
odious to the intolerant, freedom to oppressors, property to robbers, and all kinds and degrees of prosperity to the envious. We knew that all these kinds of men would gladly gratify their evil dispositions
under the sanction of law and religion, if they could:
if they could not, yet, to make way to their objects, they would do their utmost to subvert all religion and all law. This we certainly knew. But,
knowing this, is there any reason, because thieves
break in and steal, and thus bring detriment to you,
and draw ruin on themselves, that I am to be sorry
that you are in possession of shops, and of warehouses, and of wholesome laws to protect them? Are
you to build no houses, because desperate men may
pull them down upon their own heads? Or, if a malignant wretch will cut his own throat, because he
sees you give alms to the necessitous and deserving,
shall his destruction be attributed to your charity,
and not to his own deplorable madness? If we repent of our good actions, what, I pray you, is left for
our faults and follies? It is not the beneficence of
the laws,' it is the unnatural temper which beneficence can fret and sour, that is to be lamented. It
is this temper which, by all rational means, ought to
be sweetened and corrected. If froward men should
refuse this cure, can they vitiate anything but themselves? Does evil so react upon good, as not only
to retard its motion, but to change its nature? If it
can so operate, then good men will always be in the
power of the bad, - and virtue, by a dreadful reverse
of order, must lie under perpetual subjection and
bondage to vice.
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 421
As to the opinion of the people, which some think,
in such cases, is to be implicitly obeyed, - near two
years' tranquillity, which followed the act, and its instant. imitation in Ireland, proved abundantly that the late horrible spirit was in a great measure the effect
of insidious art, and perverse industry, and gross misrepresentation. But suppose that the dislike had been much more deliberate and much more general than
I am persuaded it was,- when we know that the
opinions of even the greatest multitudes are the
standard of rectitude, I shall think myself obliged to
make those opinions the masters of my conscience.
But if it may be doubted whether Omnipotence itself
is competent to alter the essential constitution of right
and wrong, sure I am that such things as they and
I are possessed of no such power. No man carries
further than I do the policy of making government
pleasing to the people. But the widest range of this
politic complaisance is confined within the limits of
justice. I would not only consult the interest of the
people, but I would cheerfully gratify their humors.
We are all a sort of children that must be soothed and
managed. I think I am not austere or formal in my
nature. I would bear, I would even myself play my
part in, any innocent buffooneries, to divert them.
But I never will act the tyrant for their amusement.
If they will mix malice in their sports, I shall never
consent to throw them any living, sentient creature
whatsoever, no, not so much as a kitling, to torment.
"But if I profess all this impolitic stubbornness, I
may chance never to be elected into Parliament. " - It
is certainly not pleasing to be put out of the public
service. But I wish to be a member of Parliament
to have my share of doing good and resisting evil. It
? ? ? ? 422 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
would therefore be absurd to renounce my objects
in order to obtain my seat. I deceive myself, indeed,
most grossly, if I had not much rather pass the remainder of my life hidden in the recesses of the deepest obscurity, feeding my mind even with the visions and imaginations of such things, than to be placed
on the most splendid throne of the universe, tantalized with a denial of the practice of all which can
make the greatest situation any other than the greatest curse. Gentlemen, I have had my day. I can
never sufficiently express my gratitude to you for
having set me in a place wherein I could lend the
slightest help to great and laudable designs. If I
have had my share in any measure giving quiet to
private property and private conscience, --if by my
-vote I have aided in securing to families the best possession, peace,- if I have joined in reconciling kings
to their subjects, and subjects to their prince, - if I
have assisted to loosen the foreign holdings of the citizen, and taught him to look for his protection to the
laws of his country, and for his comfort to the goodwill of his countrymen, --if I have thus taken my
part with the best of men in the best of their actions,
I can shut the book: I might wish to read a page
or two more, but this is enough for my measure.
I have not lived in vain.
And now, Gentlemen, on this serious day, when I
come, as it were, to make up my account with you,
let me take to myself some degree of honest pride on
the nature of the charges that are against me. I do
not here stand before you accused of venality, or of
neglect of duty. It is not said, that, in the long
period of my service, I have, in a single instance, sacrificed the slightest of your interests to my ambition
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 423
or to my fortune. It is not alleged, thlat, to gratify
any anger or revenge of my own, or of my party, I
have had a share in wronging or oppressing any description of men, or any one man in any description.
No! the charges against me are all of one kind: that
I have pushed the principles of general justice and
benevolence too far, -- further than a cautious policy would warrant, and further than the opinions of
many would go along with me. In every accident
which may happen through life, in pain, in sorrow, in
depression, and distress, I will call to mind this accusation, and be comforted.
Gentlemen, I submit the whole to your judgment.
Mr. Mayor, I thank you for the trouble you have
taken on this occasion: in your state of health it is
particularly obliging. If this company should think
it advisable for me to withdraw, I shall respectfully
retire; if you think otherwise, I shall go directly to
the Council-House and to the'Change, and without
a moment's delay begin my canvass.
BRISTOL; September 6, 1780.
AT a great'and respectable meeting of the friends of
EDMUND BURKE, Esq. , held at the Guildhall this day, the
Right Worshipful the Mayor in the chair:Resolved, That Mr. Burke, as a representative for this
city, has done all possible honor to himself as a senator and
a man, and that we do heartily and honestly approve of his
conduct, as the result of an enlightened loyalty to his sovereign, a warm and zealous love to his country through its widely extended empire, a jealous and watchful care of the
liberties of his fellow-subjects, an enlarged and liberal un
? ? ? ? 424 SPEECH AT BRISTOL.
derstanding of our commercial interest, a humane attention to the circumstances of even the lowest ranks of the
community, and a truly wise, politic, and tolerant spirit, in
supporting the national church, with a reasonable indulgence
to all who dissent from it; and we wish to express the most
marked abhorrence of the base arts which have been employed, without regard to truth and reason, to misrepresent
his eminent services to his country.
Resolved, That this resolution be copied out, and signed
by the chairman, and be by him presented to Mr. Burke, as
the fullest expression of the respectful and grateful sense we
entertain of his merits and services, public and private, to
the citizens of Bristol, as a man and a representative.
Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be given to
the Right Worshipful the Mayor, who so ably and worthily
presided in this meeting.
Resolved, That it is the earnest request of this meeting to
Mr. Burke, that he should again offer himself a candidate to
represent this city in Parliament; assuring him of that full
and strenuous support which is due to the merits of so
excellent a representative. :This business being over, Mr. Burke went to the Exchange, and offered himself as a candidate in the usual manner. He was accompanied to the Council-House, and from thence to the Exchange, by a large body of most respectable gentlemen, amongst whom were the following members of the corporation, viz. : Mr. Mayor, Mr. Alderman
Smith, Mr. Alderman Deane, Mr. Alderman Gordon, William Weare, Samuel Munckley, John Merlott, John Crofts,
Levy Ames, John Fisher Weare, Benjamin Loscombe,
Philip Protheroe, Samuel Span, Joseph Smith, Richard
Bright and'John Noble, Esquires.
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT BRISTOL, ON
DECLINING THE POLL I 780.
? ? ? ? SPEECH.
BRIsToL, Saturday, 9th Sept. , 1780.
THIn morning the sheriff and candidates assembled as
usual at the Council-House, and from thence proceeded to
Guildhall. Proclamation being made for the electors to
appear and give their votes, Mr. BURKE stood. forward on
the hustings, surrounded by a great number of the corporation and other principal citizens, and addressed himself to the whole assembly as follows.
ENTLEMEN, --I decline the election. It has
ever been my rule through life to observe a
proportion between my efforts and my objects. I
have never been remarkable for a bold, active, and
sanguine pursuit of advantages that are personal to
myself.
I have not canvassed the whole of this city in form,
but I have taken such a view of it as satisfies my
own mind that your choice will not ultimately fall
upon me. Your city, Gentlemen, is in a state of
miserable distraction, and I am resolved to withdraw whatever share my pretensions may have had
in its unhappy divisions. I have not been in haste;
I have tried all prudent means; I have waited for the
effect of all contingencies. If I were fond of a contest, by the partiality of my numerous friends (whom
you know to be among the most weighty and respectable people of the city) I have the means of a sharp
? ? ? ? 428 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
one in my hands. But I thought it far better, with
my strength unspent, and my reputation unimpaired,
to do, early and from foresight, that which I might
be obliged to do from necessity at last.
I am not in the least surprised nor in the least angry at this view of things. I have read the book of
life for a long time, and I have read other books a little. Nothing has happened to me, but what has
happened to men much better than me, and in times
and in nations' full as good as the age and country
that we live in. To say that I am no way concerned would be neither decent nor true. The f'epresentation of Bristol was an object on many accounts dear to me; and I certainly should very far prefer it
to any other in the kingdom. My habits are made
to it; and it is in general more unpleasant to be rejected after long trial than not to be chosen at all.
But, Gentlemen, I will see nothing except your
former kindness, and I will give way to no other sentiments than those of gratitude. From the bottom
of my heart I thank you for what you have done for
me. You have given me a long term, which is now
expired. I have performed the conditions, and enjoyed all the profits to the full; and I now surrender
your estate into your hands, without being in a single
tile or a single stone impaired or wasted by my use.
I have served the public for fifteen years. I have
served you in particular for six. What is past is
well stored; it is safe, and out of the power of fortune. What is to come is in wiser hands than ours;
and He in whose hands it is best knows whether it
is best for you and me that I should be in Parliament,
or even in the world.
Gentlemen, the melancholy event of yesterday
? ? ? ? ON DECLINING THE POLL. 429
reads to us an awful lesson against being too much
troubled about any of the objects of ordinary ambition. The worthy gentleman * who has been snatched
from us at the moment of the election, and in the
middle of the contest, whilst his desires were as warm
and his hopes as eager as ours, has feelingly told us
what shadows we are and what shadows we pursue.
It has been usual for a candidate who declines to
take his leave by a letter to the sheriffs: but I received your trust in the face of day, and in the face of
day I accept your dismission.
I am not- I am not
at, all ashamed to look upon you; nor can my presen'ie discompose the order of business here. I humbly and respectfully take my leave of the sheriffs, the cahdidates, and the electors, wishing heartily that the
chloice may be for the best, at a time which calls,
if ever time did call, for service that is not nominal. It is no plaything you are about. I tremble,
when I consider the trust I have presumed to ask.
I confided, perhaps, too much in my intentions. They
were really fair and upright; and I am bold to say
that I ask no ill thing for you, when, on parting from
this place, I pray, that, whomever you choose to succeed me, he may resemble me exactly in all things,
except in my abilities to serve, and my fortune to
please you.
*Mr. Coombe.
? ? ? ? SPEECH
(DECEMBER 1, 1783)
UPON'HE QUESTION FOR THE SPEAKER'S LEAVING THE
CHAIR IN ORDER FOR THE HOUSE TO RESOLVE ITSELF INTO A COMMITTEE ON
MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
? ? ? ? SPEECH.
MR. SPEAKER, - I thank you for pointing to
me. I really wished much to engage your
attention in an early stage of the debate. I have
been long very deeply, though perhaps ineffectually, engaged in the preliminary inquiries, which
have continued without intermission for some years.
Though I have felt, with some degree of sensibility,
the natural and inevitable impressions of the several
matters of fact, as they have been successively disclosed, I have not at any time attempted to trouble you on the merits of the subject, and very little on
any of the points whicli incidentally arose in the
course of our proceedings. But I should be sorry
to be found totally silent upon this day. Our inquiries are now come to their final issue. It is now to
be determined whether the three years of laborious
Parliamentary research, whether the twenty years of
patient Indian suffering, are to produce a substantial
reform in our Eastern administration; or whether
our knowledge of the grievances has abated our zeal
for the correction of them, and our very inquiry into
the evil was only a pretext to eluide the remedy
which is demanded from us by humanity, by justice,
and by every principle of true policy. Depend upon
it, this business cannot be indifferent to our fame.
It will turn out a matter of great disgrace or great
VOL. II. 28
? ? ? ? 434 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
glory to the whole British nation. We are on a conspicuous stage, and the world marks our demeanor.
I am therefore a little concerned to perceive the
spirit and temper in which the debate has been all
along pursued upon one side of the House. The
declamation of the gentlemen who oppose the bill
has been abundant and vehement; but they have
been reserved and even silent about the fitness or
unfitness of the plan to attain the direct object it has
in view. By some gentlemen it is taken up (by way
of exercise, I presume) as a point of law, on a question
of private property and corporate franchise; by others it is regarded as the petty intrigue of a faction at court, and argued merely as it tends to set this man
a little higher or that a little lower in situation and
power. All the void has been filled up with invectives against coalition, with allusions to the loss of America, with the activity and inactivity of ministers. The total silence of these gentlemen concerning the interest and well-being of the people of India,
and concerning the interest which this nation has in
the commerce and revenues of that country, is a
strong indication of the value which they set upon
these objects.
It has been a little painful to me to observe the
intrusion into this important debate of such company
as quo warranto, and mandamus, and certiorari: as if
we were on a trial about mayors and aldermen and
capital burgesses, or engaged in a suit concerning
the borough of Penryn, or Saltash, or St. Ives, or St.
Mawes. Gentlemen have argued with as much heat
and passion as if the first things in the world were
at stake; and their topics are such as belong only to
matter of the lowest and meanest litigation. It is
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 435
not right, it is not worthy of us, in this manner to
depreciate the value, to degrade the majesty, of this
grave deliberation of policy and empire.
For my part, I have thought myself bound, when a
matter of this extraordinary weight came before me,
not to consider (as some gentlemen are so fond of
doing) whether the bill originated from a Secretary of
State for the Home Department or from a Secretary
for the Foreign, from a minister of influence or a minister of the people, from Jacob or from Esau. * I asked myself, and I asked myself nothing else, what
part it was fit for a member of Parliament, who
has supplied a mediocrity of talents by the extreme
of diligence, and who has thought himself obliged by
the research of years to wind himself into the inmost recesses and labyrinths of the Indian detail, -
what part, I say, it became such a member of Parliament to take, when a minister of state, in conformity to a recommendation from the throne, has brought
before us a system for the better government of the
territory and commerce of the East. In this light,
and in this only, I will trouble you with my sentiments.
It is not only agreed, but demanded, by the right
honorable gentleman, l and by those who act with
him, that a whole system ought to be produced; that
it ought not to be an half-measure; that it ought to
be no palliative, but a legislative provision, vigorous,
substantial, and effective. - I believe that no man
who understands the subject can doubt for a moment
that those must be the conditions of anything deserving the name of a reform in the Indian government; that anything short of them would not only be delu* An allusion made by Mr. Powis. t Mr. Pitt.
? ? ? ? 436 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
sive, but, in this matter, which admits no medium,
noxious in the extreme.
To all the conditions proposed by his adversaries
the mover of the bill perfectly agrees; and on his
performance of them he rests his cause. On the other
hand, not the least objection has been taken with
regard to the efficiency, the vigor, or the completeness of the scheme. I am therefore warranted to assume, as a thing admitted, that the bills accomplish what both sides of the House demand as essential.
The end is completely answered, so far as the direct
and immediate object is concerned.
But though there are no direct, yet there are various collateral objections made: objections from the
effects which this plan of reform for Indian administration may have on the privileges of great public
bodies in England; from its probable influence on
the constitutional rights, or on the freedom and integrity, of the several branches of the legislature.
Before I answer these objections, I must beg leave
to observe, that, if we are not able to contrive some
method of governing India well, which will not of
necessity become the means of governing Great Britain ill, a ground is laid for their eternal separation,
but none for sacrificing the people of that country to
our Constitution. I am, however, far from being persuaded that any such incompatibility of interest does
at all exist. On the contrary, I am certain that every
means effectual to preserve India from oppression is
a guard to preserve the British Constitution from its
worst corruption. To show this, I will consider the
objections, which, I think, are, four.
1st, That the bill is an attack on the chartered
rights of men.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 437
2ndly, That it increases the influence of the crown.
3rdly, That it does not increase, but diminishes, the
influence of the crown, in order to promote the interests of certain ministers and their party.
4thly, That it deeply affects the national credit.
As to the first of these objections, I must observe
that the phrase of "the chartered rights of men" is
full of affectation, and very unusual in the discussion
of privileges conferred by charters of the present description. But it is not difficult to discover what end that ambiguous mode of expression, so often reiterated, is meant to answer.
The rights of men --that is to say, the natural
rights of mankind - -are indeed sacred things; and
if any public measure is proved mischievously to affect
them, the objection ought to be fatal to that measure,
even if no charter at all could be set up against it.
If these natural rights are further affirmed and declared by express covenants, if they are clearly defined and secured against chicane, against power and authority, by written instruments and positive engage ments, they are in a still better condition: they partake not only of the sanctity of the object so secured, but of that solemn public faith itself which secures an
object of such importance. Indeed, this formal recognition, by the sovereign power, of an original right
in the subject, can never be subverted, but by rooting
up the holding radical principles of government, and
even of society itself. The charters which we call by
distinction great are public instruments of this nature: I mean the charters of King John and King
Henry the Third. The things secured by these instruments may, without any deceitful ambiguity, be very fitly called the chartered rights of men.
? ? ? ? 438 SPEECH'ON MIR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
These charters have made the very name of a char.
ter dear to the heart of every Englishman. But, Sir,
there may be, and there are, charters, not only different in nature, but formed on principles the very reverse of those of the Great Charter. Of this kind is the charter of the East India Company. Magna Charta is a charter to restrain power and to destroy monopoly.
The East India charter is a charter to establish
monopoly and to create power. Political power and
commercial monopoly are not the rights of men; and
the rights to them derived from charters it is fallacious
and sophistical to call " the chartered rights of men. "
These chartered rights (to speak of such charters and
of their effects in terms of the greatest possible moderation) do at least suspend the natural rights of mankind at large, and in their very frame and constitution are liable to fall into a direct violation of
them.
It is a charter of this latter description (that is to
say, a charter of power and monopoly) which is affected by the bill before you. The bill, Sir, does without question affect it: it does affect it essentially and
substantially. But, having stated to you of what
description the chartered rights are which this bill
touches, I feel no difficulty at all in acknowledging
the existence of those chartered rights in their fullest
extent. They belong to the Company in the surest
manner, and they are secured to that body by every
sort of public sanction. They are stamped by the
faith of the king; they are stamped by the faith of
Parliament: they have been bought for money, for
money honestly and fairly paid; they have been
bought for valuable consideration, over and over
again.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 439
I therefore freely admit to the East India Company
their claim to exclude their fellow-subjects from the
commerce of half the globe. I admit their claim to
administer an annual territorial revenue of seven
millions sterling, to command an army of sixty thousand men, and to dispose (under the control of a sovereign, imperial discretion, and with the due observance of the natural and local law) of the lives and fortunes of thirty millions of their fellow-creatures. All this they possess by charter, and by Acts
of Parliament, (in my opinion,) without a shadow of
controversy.
Those who carry the rights and claims of the Company the furthest do not contend for more than this; and all this I freely grant. But, granting all this,
they must grant to me, in my turn, that all political
power which is set over men, and that all privilege
claimed or exercised in exclusion of them, being
wholly artificial, and for so much a derogation from
the natural equality of mankind at large, ought to
be some way or other exercised ultimately for their
benefit.
If this is true with regard to every species of political dominion and every description of commercial privilege, none of which can be original, self-derived
rights, or grants for the mere private benefit of the
holders, then such rights, or privileges, or whatever
else you choose to call them, are all in the strictest
sense a trust: and it is of the very essence of every
trust to be rendered accountable, -and even totally to
cease, when it substantially varies from the purposes
for which alone it could have a lawful existence.
This I conceive, Sir, to be true of trusts of power
vested in the highest hands, and of such as seem to
? ? ? ? 440 SPEECH ON MR. FOX' S EAST INDIA BILL.
hold of no human creature. But about the applica.
tion of this principle to subordinate derivative trusts
I do not see how a controversy can be maintained. To
whom, then, would I make the East India Company
accountable? Why, to Parliament, to be sure, -- to
Parliament, from whom their trust was derived, - to
Parliament, which alone is capable of comprehending
the magnitude of its object, and its abuse, and alone
capable of an effectual legislative remedy. The very
charter, which is held out to exclude Parliament fromn
correcting malversation with regard to the high trust
vested in the Company, is the very thing which at once
gives a title and imposes a duty on us to interfere with
effect, whelever power and authority originating from
ourselves are perverted from their purposes, and become instruments of wrong and violence.
If Parliament, Sir, had nothing to do with this
charter, we might have some sort of Epicurean excuse to stand aloof, indifferent spectators of what passes in the Company's name in India and in London. But if we are the very cause of the evil, we are in a special manner engaged to the redress; and for
us passively to bear with oppressions committed under
the sanction of our own authority is in truth and
reason for this House to be an active accomplice in
the abuse.
That the power, notoriously grossly abused, has
been bought from us is very certain. But this cir-. cumstance, which is urged against the bill, becomes an additional motive for our interference, lest we
should be thought to have sold the blood of millions
of men for the base consideration of money. We
sold, I admit, all that we had to sell, - that is, our
authority, not our control. We had not a right to
make a market of our duties.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 441
I ground myself, therefore, on this principle: --
that, if the abuse is proved, the contract is broken, and
we reinter into all our rights, that is, into the exercise of all our duties. Our own authority is, indeed, as much a trust originally as the Company's authority is a trust derivatively; and it is the use we make of the resumed power that must justify or condemn
us in the resumption of it. When we have perfected
the plan laid before us by the right honorable mover,
the world will then see what it is we destroy, and
what it is we create. By that test we stand or fall;
and by that test I trust that it will be found, in the
issue, that we are going to supersede a charter abused
to the full extent of all the powers which it could
abuse, and exercised in the plenitude of despotism,
tyranny, and corruption, --and that in one and the
same plan we provide a real chartered security for
the rights of men, cruelly violated under that charter.
This bill, and those connected with it, are intended
to form the Magna Charta of Hindostan. Whatever
the Treaty of Westphalia is to the liberty of the princes
and free cities of the Empire, and to the three religions there professed, - whatever the Great Charter, the Statute of Tallage, the Petition of Right, and the
Declaration of Right are to Great Britain, these bills
are to the people of India. Of this benefit I am certain their condition is capable: and when I know
that they are capable of more, my vote shall most
assuredly'be for our giving to the full extent of their
capacity of receiving; and no charter of dominion
shall stand as a bar in my way to their charter of
safety and protection.
The strong admission I have made of the Company's
rights (I am conscious of it) binds me to do a great
? ? ? ? 442 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
deal. I do not presume to condemn those who argue
a priori against the propriety of leaving such extensive political powers in the hands of a company of merchants. I know much is, and much more may
be, said against such a system. But, with my particular ideas and sentiments, I cannot go that way to work. I feel an insuperable reluctance in giving my
hand to destroy any established institution of government, upon a theory, however plausible it may be. My experience in life teaches me nothing clear upon
the subject. I have known merchants with the sentiments and the abilities of great statesmen, and I have seen persons in the rank of statesmen with the con
ceptions and character of peddlers. Indeed, my observation has furnished me with nothing that is to be found in any habits of life or education, which tends
wholly to disqualify men for the functions of government, but that by which the power of exercising those functions is very frequently obtained: I mean a spirit
and habits of low cabal and intrigue; which I have
cnever, in. one instance, seen united with a capacity
for sound and manly policy.
To justify us in taking the administration of their
affairs out of the hands of the East India Company,
on my principles, I must see several conditions. 1st,
The object affected by the abuse should be great and
important. 2nd, The abuse affecting this great object ought to be a great abuse. 3d, It ought to be habitual, and not accidental. 4th, It ought to be
utterly incurable in the body as it now stands constituted. All this ought to be made as visible to me as the light of the sun, before I should strike off an atom
of their charter. A right honorable gentleman* has
* Mr. Pitt.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 443
said, and said, I tliink, but once, and that very slightly,
(whatever his original demand for a plan might seem
to require,) that" there are abuses in the Company's
government. " If that were all, the scheme of the
mover of this bill, the scheme of his learned friend,
and his own scheme of reformation, (if he has any,)
are all equally needless. There are, and must be,
abuses in all governments. It amounts to no more.
than a nugatory proposition. But before I consider
of what nature these abuses are, of which the gentleman speaks so very lightly, permit me to recall to your recollection the map of the country which this
abused chartered right affects. This I shall do, that
you may judge whether in that map I call discover
anything like the first of my conditions: that is,
whether the object affected by the abuse of the East
India Company's power be of importance sufficient
to justify the measure and means of reform applied
to it in this bill.
With very few, and those inconsiderable - intervals,
the British dominion, either in the Company's name,
or in the names of princes absolutely dependent upon the Company, extends from the mountains that separate India from Tartary to Cape Comorin, that
is, one-and-twenty degrees of latitude!
In the northern parts it is a solid mass of land,
about eight hundred miles in length, and four or five
hundred broad. As you go southward, it becomes
narrower for a space. It afterwards dilates; but,
narrower or broader, you possess the whole eastern
and northeastern coast of that vast country, quite
from the borders of Pegu. - Bengal, Bahar, and
Orissa, with Benares, (now unfortunately in our immediate possession,) measure 161,9,78 square Englisl!
? ?
the profound lectures on the reason of state, ecclesiastical and political, which the Protestant Association
have since condescended to read to us? Or were we,
seven hundred peers and commoners, the only persons ignorant of the ribald invectives which occupy
the place of argument in those remonstrances, which
every man of common observation had heard a thousand times over, and a thousand times over had despised? All men had before heard what they have to say, and all men at this day know what they dare to
do; and I trust all honest men are equally influenced
by the one and by the other.
But they tell us, that those our fellow-citizens
whose chains we have a little relaxed are enemies
to liberty and our free Constitution. -Not enemies,
I presume, to their own liberty. And as. to the
? ? ? ? 416 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
Constitution, until we give them some share in it, I
do not know on what pretence we can examine into
their opinions about a business in which they have no
interest or concern. But, after all, are we equally
sure that they are adverse to our Constitution as that
our statutes are hostile and destructive to them? For
my part, I have reason to believe their opinions and
inclinations in that respect are various, exactly like
those of other men; and if they lean more to the
crown than I and than many of you think we ought,
we must remember that he who aims at another's
life is not to be surprised, if he flies into ally sanctuary that will receive him. The tenderness of the executive power is the natural asylum of those upon whom the laws have declared war; and to complain
that men, are inclined to favor the means of their own
safety is so absurd, that one forgets the injustice in
the ridicule.
I must fairly tell you, that so far as my principles
are concerned, (principles that I hope will only depart
with my last breath,) that I have no idea of a liberty
unconnected with honesty and justice. Nor do I believe that any good constitutions of government, or of
freedom, can find it necessary for their security to
doom any part of the people to a permanent slavery.
Such a constitution of freedom, if such can be, is in effect no more than another name for the tyranny of the
strongest faction; and factions in republics have been,
and are, full as capable as monarchs of the most cruel
oppression and injustice. It is but too true, that the
love, and even the very idea, of genuine liberty is extremely rare. It is but too true that there are many
whose whole scheme of freedom is made up of pride,
perverseness, and insolence. They feel themselves in
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 417
a state of thraldom, they imagine that their souls are
cooped and cabined in, unless they have some man
or some body of men dependent on their mercy.
This desire of having some one below them descends
to those who are the very lowest of all; and a Protestant cobbler, debased by his poverty, but exalted by
his share of the ruling church, feels a pride in knowing it is by his generosity alone that the peer whose
footman's instep he measures is able to keep his chaplain from a jail. This disposition is the true source
of the passion which many men in very humble life
have taken to the American war. Our subjects in
America; our colonies; our dependants. This lust
of party power is the liberty they hunger and thirst
for; and this Siren song of ambition has charmed
ears tliat one would have thought were never organized to that sort of music.
This way of proscribing the citizens by denominations
and general descriptions, dignified by the name of reason of state, and security for constitutions and commonwealths, is nothing better at bottom than the miserable invention of an ungenerous ambition which would fain hold the sacred trust of power, without
any of the virtues or any of the energies that give
a title to it,- a receipt of policy, made up of a detestable compound of malice, cowardice, and sloth.
They would govern men against their will; but in
that government they would be discharged from the
exercise of vigilance, providence, and fortitude; and
therefore, that they may sleep on their watch, they
consent to take some one division of the society into
partnership of the tyranny over the rest. But let
government, in what form it may be, comprehend
the whole in its justice, and restrain the suspicious
VOL. II. 27
? ? ? ? 418 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
by its vigilance, - let it keep watch and ward, -- let it
discover by its sagacity, and punish by its firmness,
all delinquency against its power, whenever delinquency exists in the overt acts, - and then it will be
as safe as ever God and Nature intended it should
be. Crimes are the acts of individuals, and not of
denominations: and therefore arbitrarily to class men
under general descriptions, in order to proscribe and
punish them in the lump for a presumed delinquency, of which perhaps but a part, perhaps none at all, are guilty, is indeed a compendious method, and saves
a world of trouble about proof; but such a method,
instead of being law, is an act of unnatural rebellion
against the legal dominion of reason and justice; and
this vice, in any constitution that entertains it, at one
time or other will certainly bring on its ruin.
We are told that this is not a religious persecution;
and its abettors are loud in disclaiming all severities
on account of conscience. Very fine indeed! Then
let it be so: they are not persecutors; they are only
tyrants. With all my heart. I am perfectly indifferent concerning the -pretexts upon which we torment one another, - or whether it be for the constitution of
the Church of England, or for the constitution of the
State o! . England, that people choose to make their
fellow-creatures wretched. When we were sent into
a place of authority, you that sent us had yourselves
but one commission to give. You could give us none
to wrong or oppress, or even to suffer any kind of oppression or wrong, on any grounds whatsoever: not on political, as in the affairs of America; not on commercial, as in those of Ireland; not in civil, as in the laws for debt; not in religious, as in the statutes
against Protestant or Catholic dissenters. The diver
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 419
sified, but connected, fabric of universal justice is well
cramped and bolted together in all its parts; and depend upon it, I never have employed, and- I never shall employ, any engine of power which may come into my
hands to wrench it asunder. All shall stand, if I can
help it, and all shall stand connected. After all, to
complete this wbrk, much remains to be done: much
in the East, much in the West. But, great as the work
is, if our will be ready, our powers are not deficient.
Since you have suffered me to trouble you so much
on this subject, permit me, Gentlemen, to detain you
a little longer. I am, indeed, most solicitous to give
you perfect satisfaction. I find there are some of a
better and softer nature than the persons with whom
I have supposed myself in debate, who neither think ill
of the act of relief, nor by any means desire the repeal,
-yet who, not accusing, but lamenting, what was
done, on account of the consequences, have frequently
expressed their wish that the late act had never been
made. Some of this description, and persons of worth,
I have met with in this city. They conceive that the
prejudices, whatever they might be, of a large part of
the people, ought not to have been shocked, -that
their opinions ought to have been previously taken,
and much attended to, - and that thereby the late
horrid scenes might have been prevented.
I confess, my notions are widely different; and I
never was less sorry for any action of my life. I like
the bill the better on account of the events of all
kinds that followed it. It relieved the real sufferers;
it strengthened the state; and, by the disorders that
ensued, we had clear evidence that there lurked a
temper somewhere which ought not to be fostered
by the laws. No ill consequences whatever could be
? ? ? ? 420 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
attributed to the act itself. We knew beforehand,
or we were poorly instructed, that toleration is
odious to the intolerant, freedom to oppressors, property to robbers, and all kinds and degrees of prosperity to the envious. We knew that all these kinds of men would gladly gratify their evil dispositions
under the sanction of law and religion, if they could:
if they could not, yet, to make way to their objects, they would do their utmost to subvert all religion and all law. This we certainly knew. But,
knowing this, is there any reason, because thieves
break in and steal, and thus bring detriment to you,
and draw ruin on themselves, that I am to be sorry
that you are in possession of shops, and of warehouses, and of wholesome laws to protect them? Are
you to build no houses, because desperate men may
pull them down upon their own heads? Or, if a malignant wretch will cut his own throat, because he
sees you give alms to the necessitous and deserving,
shall his destruction be attributed to your charity,
and not to his own deplorable madness? If we repent of our good actions, what, I pray you, is left for
our faults and follies? It is not the beneficence of
the laws,' it is the unnatural temper which beneficence can fret and sour, that is to be lamented. It
is this temper which, by all rational means, ought to
be sweetened and corrected. If froward men should
refuse this cure, can they vitiate anything but themselves? Does evil so react upon good, as not only
to retard its motion, but to change its nature? If it
can so operate, then good men will always be in the
power of the bad, - and virtue, by a dreadful reverse
of order, must lie under perpetual subjection and
bondage to vice.
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 421
As to the opinion of the people, which some think,
in such cases, is to be implicitly obeyed, - near two
years' tranquillity, which followed the act, and its instant. imitation in Ireland, proved abundantly that the late horrible spirit was in a great measure the effect
of insidious art, and perverse industry, and gross misrepresentation. But suppose that the dislike had been much more deliberate and much more general than
I am persuaded it was,- when we know that the
opinions of even the greatest multitudes are the
standard of rectitude, I shall think myself obliged to
make those opinions the masters of my conscience.
But if it may be doubted whether Omnipotence itself
is competent to alter the essential constitution of right
and wrong, sure I am that such things as they and
I are possessed of no such power. No man carries
further than I do the policy of making government
pleasing to the people. But the widest range of this
politic complaisance is confined within the limits of
justice. I would not only consult the interest of the
people, but I would cheerfully gratify their humors.
We are all a sort of children that must be soothed and
managed. I think I am not austere or formal in my
nature. I would bear, I would even myself play my
part in, any innocent buffooneries, to divert them.
But I never will act the tyrant for their amusement.
If they will mix malice in their sports, I shall never
consent to throw them any living, sentient creature
whatsoever, no, not so much as a kitling, to torment.
"But if I profess all this impolitic stubbornness, I
may chance never to be elected into Parliament. " - It
is certainly not pleasing to be put out of the public
service. But I wish to be a member of Parliament
to have my share of doing good and resisting evil. It
? ? ? ? 422 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
would therefore be absurd to renounce my objects
in order to obtain my seat. I deceive myself, indeed,
most grossly, if I had not much rather pass the remainder of my life hidden in the recesses of the deepest obscurity, feeding my mind even with the visions and imaginations of such things, than to be placed
on the most splendid throne of the universe, tantalized with a denial of the practice of all which can
make the greatest situation any other than the greatest curse. Gentlemen, I have had my day. I can
never sufficiently express my gratitude to you for
having set me in a place wherein I could lend the
slightest help to great and laudable designs. If I
have had my share in any measure giving quiet to
private property and private conscience, --if by my
-vote I have aided in securing to families the best possession, peace,- if I have joined in reconciling kings
to their subjects, and subjects to their prince, - if I
have assisted to loosen the foreign holdings of the citizen, and taught him to look for his protection to the
laws of his country, and for his comfort to the goodwill of his countrymen, --if I have thus taken my
part with the best of men in the best of their actions,
I can shut the book: I might wish to read a page
or two more, but this is enough for my measure.
I have not lived in vain.
And now, Gentlemen, on this serious day, when I
come, as it were, to make up my account with you,
let me take to myself some degree of honest pride on
the nature of the charges that are against me. I do
not here stand before you accused of venality, or of
neglect of duty. It is not said, that, in the long
period of my service, I have, in a single instance, sacrificed the slightest of your interests to my ambition
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 423
or to my fortune. It is not alleged, thlat, to gratify
any anger or revenge of my own, or of my party, I
have had a share in wronging or oppressing any description of men, or any one man in any description.
No! the charges against me are all of one kind: that
I have pushed the principles of general justice and
benevolence too far, -- further than a cautious policy would warrant, and further than the opinions of
many would go along with me. In every accident
which may happen through life, in pain, in sorrow, in
depression, and distress, I will call to mind this accusation, and be comforted.
Gentlemen, I submit the whole to your judgment.
Mr. Mayor, I thank you for the trouble you have
taken on this occasion: in your state of health it is
particularly obliging. If this company should think
it advisable for me to withdraw, I shall respectfully
retire; if you think otherwise, I shall go directly to
the Council-House and to the'Change, and without
a moment's delay begin my canvass.
BRISTOL; September 6, 1780.
AT a great'and respectable meeting of the friends of
EDMUND BURKE, Esq. , held at the Guildhall this day, the
Right Worshipful the Mayor in the chair:Resolved, That Mr. Burke, as a representative for this
city, has done all possible honor to himself as a senator and
a man, and that we do heartily and honestly approve of his
conduct, as the result of an enlightened loyalty to his sovereign, a warm and zealous love to his country through its widely extended empire, a jealous and watchful care of the
liberties of his fellow-subjects, an enlarged and liberal un
? ? ? ? 424 SPEECH AT BRISTOL.
derstanding of our commercial interest, a humane attention to the circumstances of even the lowest ranks of the
community, and a truly wise, politic, and tolerant spirit, in
supporting the national church, with a reasonable indulgence
to all who dissent from it; and we wish to express the most
marked abhorrence of the base arts which have been employed, without regard to truth and reason, to misrepresent
his eminent services to his country.
Resolved, That this resolution be copied out, and signed
by the chairman, and be by him presented to Mr. Burke, as
the fullest expression of the respectful and grateful sense we
entertain of his merits and services, public and private, to
the citizens of Bristol, as a man and a representative.
Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be given to
the Right Worshipful the Mayor, who so ably and worthily
presided in this meeting.
Resolved, That it is the earnest request of this meeting to
Mr. Burke, that he should again offer himself a candidate to
represent this city in Parliament; assuring him of that full
and strenuous support which is due to the merits of so
excellent a representative. :This business being over, Mr. Burke went to the Exchange, and offered himself as a candidate in the usual manner. He was accompanied to the Council-House, and from thence to the Exchange, by a large body of most respectable gentlemen, amongst whom were the following members of the corporation, viz. : Mr. Mayor, Mr. Alderman
Smith, Mr. Alderman Deane, Mr. Alderman Gordon, William Weare, Samuel Munckley, John Merlott, John Crofts,
Levy Ames, John Fisher Weare, Benjamin Loscombe,
Philip Protheroe, Samuel Span, Joseph Smith, Richard
Bright and'John Noble, Esquires.
? ? ? ? SPEECH AT BRISTOL, ON
DECLINING THE POLL I 780.
? ? ? ? SPEECH.
BRIsToL, Saturday, 9th Sept. , 1780.
THIn morning the sheriff and candidates assembled as
usual at the Council-House, and from thence proceeded to
Guildhall. Proclamation being made for the electors to
appear and give their votes, Mr. BURKE stood. forward on
the hustings, surrounded by a great number of the corporation and other principal citizens, and addressed himself to the whole assembly as follows.
ENTLEMEN, --I decline the election. It has
ever been my rule through life to observe a
proportion between my efforts and my objects. I
have never been remarkable for a bold, active, and
sanguine pursuit of advantages that are personal to
myself.
I have not canvassed the whole of this city in form,
but I have taken such a view of it as satisfies my
own mind that your choice will not ultimately fall
upon me. Your city, Gentlemen, is in a state of
miserable distraction, and I am resolved to withdraw whatever share my pretensions may have had
in its unhappy divisions. I have not been in haste;
I have tried all prudent means; I have waited for the
effect of all contingencies. If I were fond of a contest, by the partiality of my numerous friends (whom
you know to be among the most weighty and respectable people of the city) I have the means of a sharp
? ? ? ? 428 SPEECH AT BRISTOL,
one in my hands. But I thought it far better, with
my strength unspent, and my reputation unimpaired,
to do, early and from foresight, that which I might
be obliged to do from necessity at last.
I am not in the least surprised nor in the least angry at this view of things. I have read the book of
life for a long time, and I have read other books a little. Nothing has happened to me, but what has
happened to men much better than me, and in times
and in nations' full as good as the age and country
that we live in. To say that I am no way concerned would be neither decent nor true. The f'epresentation of Bristol was an object on many accounts dear to me; and I certainly should very far prefer it
to any other in the kingdom. My habits are made
to it; and it is in general more unpleasant to be rejected after long trial than not to be chosen at all.
But, Gentlemen, I will see nothing except your
former kindness, and I will give way to no other sentiments than those of gratitude. From the bottom
of my heart I thank you for what you have done for
me. You have given me a long term, which is now
expired. I have performed the conditions, and enjoyed all the profits to the full; and I now surrender
your estate into your hands, without being in a single
tile or a single stone impaired or wasted by my use.
I have served the public for fifteen years. I have
served you in particular for six. What is past is
well stored; it is safe, and out of the power of fortune. What is to come is in wiser hands than ours;
and He in whose hands it is best knows whether it
is best for you and me that I should be in Parliament,
or even in the world.
Gentlemen, the melancholy event of yesterday
? ? ? ? ON DECLINING THE POLL. 429
reads to us an awful lesson against being too much
troubled about any of the objects of ordinary ambition. The worthy gentleman * who has been snatched
from us at the moment of the election, and in the
middle of the contest, whilst his desires were as warm
and his hopes as eager as ours, has feelingly told us
what shadows we are and what shadows we pursue.
It has been usual for a candidate who declines to
take his leave by a letter to the sheriffs: but I received your trust in the face of day, and in the face of
day I accept your dismission.
I am not- I am not
at, all ashamed to look upon you; nor can my presen'ie discompose the order of business here. I humbly and respectfully take my leave of the sheriffs, the cahdidates, and the electors, wishing heartily that the
chloice may be for the best, at a time which calls,
if ever time did call, for service that is not nominal. It is no plaything you are about. I tremble,
when I consider the trust I have presumed to ask.
I confided, perhaps, too much in my intentions. They
were really fair and upright; and I am bold to say
that I ask no ill thing for you, when, on parting from
this place, I pray, that, whomever you choose to succeed me, he may resemble me exactly in all things,
except in my abilities to serve, and my fortune to
please you.
*Mr. Coombe.
? ? ? ? SPEECH
(DECEMBER 1, 1783)
UPON'HE QUESTION FOR THE SPEAKER'S LEAVING THE
CHAIR IN ORDER FOR THE HOUSE TO RESOLVE ITSELF INTO A COMMITTEE ON
MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
? ? ? ? SPEECH.
MR. SPEAKER, - I thank you for pointing to
me. I really wished much to engage your
attention in an early stage of the debate. I have
been long very deeply, though perhaps ineffectually, engaged in the preliminary inquiries, which
have continued without intermission for some years.
Though I have felt, with some degree of sensibility,
the natural and inevitable impressions of the several
matters of fact, as they have been successively disclosed, I have not at any time attempted to trouble you on the merits of the subject, and very little on
any of the points whicli incidentally arose in the
course of our proceedings. But I should be sorry
to be found totally silent upon this day. Our inquiries are now come to their final issue. It is now to
be determined whether the three years of laborious
Parliamentary research, whether the twenty years of
patient Indian suffering, are to produce a substantial
reform in our Eastern administration; or whether
our knowledge of the grievances has abated our zeal
for the correction of them, and our very inquiry into
the evil was only a pretext to eluide the remedy
which is demanded from us by humanity, by justice,
and by every principle of true policy. Depend upon
it, this business cannot be indifferent to our fame.
It will turn out a matter of great disgrace or great
VOL. II. 28
? ? ? ? 434 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
glory to the whole British nation. We are on a conspicuous stage, and the world marks our demeanor.
I am therefore a little concerned to perceive the
spirit and temper in which the debate has been all
along pursued upon one side of the House. The
declamation of the gentlemen who oppose the bill
has been abundant and vehement; but they have
been reserved and even silent about the fitness or
unfitness of the plan to attain the direct object it has
in view. By some gentlemen it is taken up (by way
of exercise, I presume) as a point of law, on a question
of private property and corporate franchise; by others it is regarded as the petty intrigue of a faction at court, and argued merely as it tends to set this man
a little higher or that a little lower in situation and
power. All the void has been filled up with invectives against coalition, with allusions to the loss of America, with the activity and inactivity of ministers. The total silence of these gentlemen concerning the interest and well-being of the people of India,
and concerning the interest which this nation has in
the commerce and revenues of that country, is a
strong indication of the value which they set upon
these objects.
It has been a little painful to me to observe the
intrusion into this important debate of such company
as quo warranto, and mandamus, and certiorari: as if
we were on a trial about mayors and aldermen and
capital burgesses, or engaged in a suit concerning
the borough of Penryn, or Saltash, or St. Ives, or St.
Mawes. Gentlemen have argued with as much heat
and passion as if the first things in the world were
at stake; and their topics are such as belong only to
matter of the lowest and meanest litigation. It is
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 435
not right, it is not worthy of us, in this manner to
depreciate the value, to degrade the majesty, of this
grave deliberation of policy and empire.
For my part, I have thought myself bound, when a
matter of this extraordinary weight came before me,
not to consider (as some gentlemen are so fond of
doing) whether the bill originated from a Secretary of
State for the Home Department or from a Secretary
for the Foreign, from a minister of influence or a minister of the people, from Jacob or from Esau. * I asked myself, and I asked myself nothing else, what
part it was fit for a member of Parliament, who
has supplied a mediocrity of talents by the extreme
of diligence, and who has thought himself obliged by
the research of years to wind himself into the inmost recesses and labyrinths of the Indian detail, -
what part, I say, it became such a member of Parliament to take, when a minister of state, in conformity to a recommendation from the throne, has brought
before us a system for the better government of the
territory and commerce of the East. In this light,
and in this only, I will trouble you with my sentiments.
It is not only agreed, but demanded, by the right
honorable gentleman, l and by those who act with
him, that a whole system ought to be produced; that
it ought not to be an half-measure; that it ought to
be no palliative, but a legislative provision, vigorous,
substantial, and effective. - I believe that no man
who understands the subject can doubt for a moment
that those must be the conditions of anything deserving the name of a reform in the Indian government; that anything short of them would not only be delu* An allusion made by Mr. Powis. t Mr. Pitt.
? ? ? ? 436 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
sive, but, in this matter, which admits no medium,
noxious in the extreme.
To all the conditions proposed by his adversaries
the mover of the bill perfectly agrees; and on his
performance of them he rests his cause. On the other
hand, not the least objection has been taken with
regard to the efficiency, the vigor, or the completeness of the scheme. I am therefore warranted to assume, as a thing admitted, that the bills accomplish what both sides of the House demand as essential.
The end is completely answered, so far as the direct
and immediate object is concerned.
But though there are no direct, yet there are various collateral objections made: objections from the
effects which this plan of reform for Indian administration may have on the privileges of great public
bodies in England; from its probable influence on
the constitutional rights, or on the freedom and integrity, of the several branches of the legislature.
Before I answer these objections, I must beg leave
to observe, that, if we are not able to contrive some
method of governing India well, which will not of
necessity become the means of governing Great Britain ill, a ground is laid for their eternal separation,
but none for sacrificing the people of that country to
our Constitution. I am, however, far from being persuaded that any such incompatibility of interest does
at all exist. On the contrary, I am certain that every
means effectual to preserve India from oppression is
a guard to preserve the British Constitution from its
worst corruption. To show this, I will consider the
objections, which, I think, are, four.
1st, That the bill is an attack on the chartered
rights of men.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 437
2ndly, That it increases the influence of the crown.
3rdly, That it does not increase, but diminishes, the
influence of the crown, in order to promote the interests of certain ministers and their party.
4thly, That it deeply affects the national credit.
As to the first of these objections, I must observe
that the phrase of "the chartered rights of men" is
full of affectation, and very unusual in the discussion
of privileges conferred by charters of the present description. But it is not difficult to discover what end that ambiguous mode of expression, so often reiterated, is meant to answer.
The rights of men --that is to say, the natural
rights of mankind - -are indeed sacred things; and
if any public measure is proved mischievously to affect
them, the objection ought to be fatal to that measure,
even if no charter at all could be set up against it.
If these natural rights are further affirmed and declared by express covenants, if they are clearly defined and secured against chicane, against power and authority, by written instruments and positive engage ments, they are in a still better condition: they partake not only of the sanctity of the object so secured, but of that solemn public faith itself which secures an
object of such importance. Indeed, this formal recognition, by the sovereign power, of an original right
in the subject, can never be subverted, but by rooting
up the holding radical principles of government, and
even of society itself. The charters which we call by
distinction great are public instruments of this nature: I mean the charters of King John and King
Henry the Third. The things secured by these instruments may, without any deceitful ambiguity, be very fitly called the chartered rights of men.
? ? ? ? 438 SPEECH'ON MIR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
These charters have made the very name of a char.
ter dear to the heart of every Englishman. But, Sir,
there may be, and there are, charters, not only different in nature, but formed on principles the very reverse of those of the Great Charter. Of this kind is the charter of the East India Company. Magna Charta is a charter to restrain power and to destroy monopoly.
The East India charter is a charter to establish
monopoly and to create power. Political power and
commercial monopoly are not the rights of men; and
the rights to them derived from charters it is fallacious
and sophistical to call " the chartered rights of men. "
These chartered rights (to speak of such charters and
of their effects in terms of the greatest possible moderation) do at least suspend the natural rights of mankind at large, and in their very frame and constitution are liable to fall into a direct violation of
them.
It is a charter of this latter description (that is to
say, a charter of power and monopoly) which is affected by the bill before you. The bill, Sir, does without question affect it: it does affect it essentially and
substantially. But, having stated to you of what
description the chartered rights are which this bill
touches, I feel no difficulty at all in acknowledging
the existence of those chartered rights in their fullest
extent. They belong to the Company in the surest
manner, and they are secured to that body by every
sort of public sanction. They are stamped by the
faith of the king; they are stamped by the faith of
Parliament: they have been bought for money, for
money honestly and fairly paid; they have been
bought for valuable consideration, over and over
again.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 439
I therefore freely admit to the East India Company
their claim to exclude their fellow-subjects from the
commerce of half the globe. I admit their claim to
administer an annual territorial revenue of seven
millions sterling, to command an army of sixty thousand men, and to dispose (under the control of a sovereign, imperial discretion, and with the due observance of the natural and local law) of the lives and fortunes of thirty millions of their fellow-creatures. All this they possess by charter, and by Acts
of Parliament, (in my opinion,) without a shadow of
controversy.
Those who carry the rights and claims of the Company the furthest do not contend for more than this; and all this I freely grant. But, granting all this,
they must grant to me, in my turn, that all political
power which is set over men, and that all privilege
claimed or exercised in exclusion of them, being
wholly artificial, and for so much a derogation from
the natural equality of mankind at large, ought to
be some way or other exercised ultimately for their
benefit.
If this is true with regard to every species of political dominion and every description of commercial privilege, none of which can be original, self-derived
rights, or grants for the mere private benefit of the
holders, then such rights, or privileges, or whatever
else you choose to call them, are all in the strictest
sense a trust: and it is of the very essence of every
trust to be rendered accountable, -and even totally to
cease, when it substantially varies from the purposes
for which alone it could have a lawful existence.
This I conceive, Sir, to be true of trusts of power
vested in the highest hands, and of such as seem to
? ? ? ? 440 SPEECH ON MR. FOX' S EAST INDIA BILL.
hold of no human creature. But about the applica.
tion of this principle to subordinate derivative trusts
I do not see how a controversy can be maintained. To
whom, then, would I make the East India Company
accountable? Why, to Parliament, to be sure, -- to
Parliament, from whom their trust was derived, - to
Parliament, which alone is capable of comprehending
the magnitude of its object, and its abuse, and alone
capable of an effectual legislative remedy. The very
charter, which is held out to exclude Parliament fromn
correcting malversation with regard to the high trust
vested in the Company, is the very thing which at once
gives a title and imposes a duty on us to interfere with
effect, whelever power and authority originating from
ourselves are perverted from their purposes, and become instruments of wrong and violence.
If Parliament, Sir, had nothing to do with this
charter, we might have some sort of Epicurean excuse to stand aloof, indifferent spectators of what passes in the Company's name in India and in London. But if we are the very cause of the evil, we are in a special manner engaged to the redress; and for
us passively to bear with oppressions committed under
the sanction of our own authority is in truth and
reason for this House to be an active accomplice in
the abuse.
That the power, notoriously grossly abused, has
been bought from us is very certain. But this cir-. cumstance, which is urged against the bill, becomes an additional motive for our interference, lest we
should be thought to have sold the blood of millions
of men for the base consideration of money. We
sold, I admit, all that we had to sell, - that is, our
authority, not our control. We had not a right to
make a market of our duties.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 441
I ground myself, therefore, on this principle: --
that, if the abuse is proved, the contract is broken, and
we reinter into all our rights, that is, into the exercise of all our duties. Our own authority is, indeed, as much a trust originally as the Company's authority is a trust derivatively; and it is the use we make of the resumed power that must justify or condemn
us in the resumption of it. When we have perfected
the plan laid before us by the right honorable mover,
the world will then see what it is we destroy, and
what it is we create. By that test we stand or fall;
and by that test I trust that it will be found, in the
issue, that we are going to supersede a charter abused
to the full extent of all the powers which it could
abuse, and exercised in the plenitude of despotism,
tyranny, and corruption, --and that in one and the
same plan we provide a real chartered security for
the rights of men, cruelly violated under that charter.
This bill, and those connected with it, are intended
to form the Magna Charta of Hindostan. Whatever
the Treaty of Westphalia is to the liberty of the princes
and free cities of the Empire, and to the three religions there professed, - whatever the Great Charter, the Statute of Tallage, the Petition of Right, and the
Declaration of Right are to Great Britain, these bills
are to the people of India. Of this benefit I am certain their condition is capable: and when I know
that they are capable of more, my vote shall most
assuredly'be for our giving to the full extent of their
capacity of receiving; and no charter of dominion
shall stand as a bar in my way to their charter of
safety and protection.
The strong admission I have made of the Company's
rights (I am conscious of it) binds me to do a great
? ? ? ? 442 SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL.
deal. I do not presume to condemn those who argue
a priori against the propriety of leaving such extensive political powers in the hands of a company of merchants. I know much is, and much more may
be, said against such a system. But, with my particular ideas and sentiments, I cannot go that way to work. I feel an insuperable reluctance in giving my
hand to destroy any established institution of government, upon a theory, however plausible it may be. My experience in life teaches me nothing clear upon
the subject. I have known merchants with the sentiments and the abilities of great statesmen, and I have seen persons in the rank of statesmen with the con
ceptions and character of peddlers. Indeed, my observation has furnished me with nothing that is to be found in any habits of life or education, which tends
wholly to disqualify men for the functions of government, but that by which the power of exercising those functions is very frequently obtained: I mean a spirit
and habits of low cabal and intrigue; which I have
cnever, in. one instance, seen united with a capacity
for sound and manly policy.
To justify us in taking the administration of their
affairs out of the hands of the East India Company,
on my principles, I must see several conditions. 1st,
The object affected by the abuse should be great and
important. 2nd, The abuse affecting this great object ought to be a great abuse. 3d, It ought to be habitual, and not accidental. 4th, It ought to be
utterly incurable in the body as it now stands constituted. All this ought to be made as visible to me as the light of the sun, before I should strike off an atom
of their charter. A right honorable gentleman* has
* Mr. Pitt.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON MR. FOX'S EAST INDIA BILL. 443
said, and said, I tliink, but once, and that very slightly,
(whatever his original demand for a plan might seem
to require,) that" there are abuses in the Company's
government. " If that were all, the scheme of the
mover of this bill, the scheme of his learned friend,
and his own scheme of reformation, (if he has any,)
are all equally needless. There are, and must be,
abuses in all governments. It amounts to no more.
than a nugatory proposition. But before I consider
of what nature these abuses are, of which the gentleman speaks so very lightly, permit me to recall to your recollection the map of the country which this
abused chartered right affects. This I shall do, that
you may judge whether in that map I call discover
anything like the first of my conditions: that is,
whether the object affected by the abuse of the East
India Company's power be of importance sufficient
to justify the measure and means of reform applied
to it in this bill.
With very few, and those inconsiderable - intervals,
the British dominion, either in the Company's name,
or in the names of princes absolutely dependent upon the Company, extends from the mountains that separate India from Tartary to Cape Comorin, that
is, one-and-twenty degrees of latitude!
In the northern parts it is a solid mass of land,
about eight hundred miles in length, and four or five
hundred broad. As you go southward, it becomes
narrower for a space. It afterwards dilates; but,
narrower or broader, you possess the whole eastern
and northeastern coast of that vast country, quite
from the borders of Pegu. - Bengal, Bahar, and
Orissa, with Benares, (now unfortunately in our immediate possession,) measure 161,9,78 square Englisl!
? ?
