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consequences now stated by the honorable gentleman
was then given as a' reason for shutting the door
against all hope of such an alteration. And so
strong was the'spirit for supporting the new taxes,
that the session concluded with the following remarkable declaration. After stating the vigorous measures which had been pursued, the speech from the
throne proceeds:" You have assured me of your firm support in the
proseecution of them. Nothing, in my opinion, could
be more likely to enable the well-disposed among my
subjects in that part of the world effectually to discourage and defeat the designs' of the factious and seditious than the hearty concurrence of every branch
of the legislature in the resolution of maintaining the
execution of the laws in every part of my dominions. "
After this no man dreamt that a repeal under this
ministry could possibly take place. The honorable
gentleman knows as well as I, that the idea was utterly exploded by those who sway the House. This
speech was made on the ninth day of May, 1769.
Five days after this speech, that is, on the thirteenth
of the same month, the public circular letter, a part
of which I am going to read to you, was written by
Lord Hillsborough, Secretary of State for the Colonies. After' reciting the substance of the king's
speech, he goes on thus:"' I can take upon me to assure you, notwithstanding insinuations to the contrary: from men with factious and seditious views, that his Majesty's present administration have at no time entertained a design
to propose to Parliament to lay any further taxes
upon Ameriea, for the purpose of RAISING A REVENUE; an d that it is at present their intention to pro
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAX'ATION. 2]
pose, the next session of Parliament, to take off the
duties upon glass, paper, and colors, upon consideration of such duties having been laid contrary to the true
principles of commerce.
"These have always been, and still are, the sentiments of his Majesty's present servants, and by which
their conduct in respect: to America has been governed.
And his Majesty relies upon your prudence and fidelity for such an explanation: of his measures as may
tend. to remove the prejudices which have been excited by the misrepresentations of those who are enemies
to the:peace and prosperity of Great Britain and her
colonies, and to reestablish that mutual confidence
and affection upon which the glory and safety of the
British empire depend. "
Here, Sir, is a canonical book of ministerial scripture: the general epistle to the Americans. What
does the gentleman say to it? -Here a repeal is promised,- promised without condition, -and while your
authority was actually resisted. I pass by the public
promise of a peer relative to the repeal of taxes by
this' House. I pass by the use of the king's name
in a matter of'supply, that sacred and reserved right
of the Commons. I conceal the ridiculous figure of
Parliament hurling its thunders at the gigantic rebellion of America, and then, five days after, prostrate at the feet of those assemblies we, affected to despise,- begging them, by the intervention of our
ministerial sureties, to receive our submission, and
heartily promising amendment. These might have
been serious matters:formerly; but we are grown
wiser than our fathers. Passing, therefore, from the
Constitutional consideration to the mere policy, does
not this letter imply that the idea of taxing America
? ? ? ? 22 SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION.
for the purpose of revenue is an abominable project, when the ministry suppose none but factious
men, and with seditious views, could charge them
with it? does not this letter adopt and sanctify the
American distinction of taxing for a revenue? does it
not formally reject all future taxation on that principle? does it not state the ministerial rejection of
such principle of taxation, not as the occasional, but
the constant opinion of the king's servants? does it
not say, (I care not how consistently,) but does it not
say, that their conduct with regard to America has
been always governed by this policy? It goes a great
deal further. These excellent and trusty servants of
the. king, justly fearful lest they themselves should
have lost all credit with the world, bring out the image of their gracious sovereign from the inmost and most sacred shrine, and they pawn him as a security
for their promises:-" His Majesty: relies on'your
prudence and fidelity for such an explanation of his
measures. " These sentiments of the minister and
these measures of his Majesty -can only relate to the
principle and. practice of taxing for'a revenue; and
accordingly Lord Botetourt, stating it as such, did,
with great propriety, and in the exact spirit of his
instructions, endeavor to remove the fears of the Virginian assembly lest the sentiments. which. it seems (unknown to the world) had always been those of the
ministers, and by which their conduct in respect to
America had been governed, should by some possible
revolution, favorable to wicked American taxers; be
hereafter counteracted. He addresses them in tliis
manner: -
"It may possibly be objected, that, as his Majesty's
present administration are not immortal, their succes
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN:TAXATION. 23
sors may be inclined to attempt to undo what the
present ministers shall have attempted to perform;
and to that objection I can give but. this answer: that
it is my firm opinion, that the plan I have stated to
you will certainly take place, and that it will never
be departed from; and so determined am I forever to
abide by it, that I will be content to be declared infamous, if I do not, to the last hour of my life, at all
times, in: all places, and upon all occasions, exert
every power with which I either am or ever shall be
legally invested, in order to obtain and maintain for
the continent of America thatsatisfaction which I
have been authorized to promise this day by the confidential servants of our gracious sovereign, who tot
my certain knowledge rates his honor so high that~
he would rather part with his crown than preserve it by
deceit. . " *
A glorious and true character! which (since we
suffer his ministers with impunity to answer for his
ideas of taxation) we ought to make it our business
to enable his Majesty to preserve -in all its lustre.
Let him have character, since ours is no more! Let
some part of government be kept in respect!
X A material point is omitted by Mr. Burke in this speech, viz.
the manner in which the continent received this royal assurance. The assembly of Virginia, in their address in answer to Lord Botetourt's
speech, express themselves thus:- "We will not suffer our present
hopes, arising from the pleasing prospect your Lordship hath so kindly
opened and displayed to us, to be dashed by the bitter reflection that
any future administration will entertain a wish to depart from that
plan which affords the surest and most permanent foundation of public tranquillity and happiness. No, my Lord, we are sure our most
gracious sovereign, under whatever changes may happen in his confidential servants, will remain immutable in the ways of truth and justice, and that he is incapable. of deceiving his faithful subjects; and we esteem your Lordship's information not only us warranted, but even
sanctified by the royal word. "
? ? ? ? 24 SPEECH ON AMERICAN,TAXATION.
This epistle was not: the letter of Lord Hillsborough
solely, though'he held the official pen. It was. the
letter of the noble lord upon the floor,* and of all the
king's then ministers, who (with, I think, the exception of two only) are his ministers at this hour. The
very first news that a British Parliament heard of
what it was to do with thle duties which it had given
and granted to the king was by the publication of
the votes of American assemblies. It was in America
that your resolutions were pre-declared. It was from
thence that we knew to a certainty how much exactly,
and not a scruple more nor less, we were to repeal.
We were unworthy to be let into the secret of our
own conduct. The assemblies had confidential communications from his Majesty's confidential servants. . We were nothing. but instruments. Do you, after this, wonder that you have no weight and no respect in the colonies? After this are you surprised
that Parliament is every day and everywhere losing
(I feel it with sorrow, I utter it with reluctance) that
reverential affection. which so endearing a name of
authority ought ever to carry with it? that you are
obeyed solely from respect to the bayonet? and that
this House, the ground and pillar of freedom, is itself
held up only by the treacherous underpinning and
clumsy buttresses of arbitrary power?
If this dignity, which is to stand in the place of
just policy and common sense, had been consulted,
there was a time for preserving it, and for reconciling
it with any concession. If in the session of 1768,
that session of idle'terror and empty menaces, you
-had, as you were often pressed to do, repealed these
taxes, then your strong operations would have c(ome
* Lord North.
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAIN TAXATION. 25
justified and. enforced, in case your concessions had
been returned by outrages. But, preposterously. , you
began with violence; and before terrors could have
any effect, either good or bad, your ministers immediately begged pardon, and promised that repeal to
thee obstinate Americans which they had refused in
an easy, good-natured, complying. British Parliament.
The assemblies, which had been publicly and avowedly dissolved for their contumacy, are called together
to receive your submission. Your ministerial directors blustered like tragic tyrants here; and then went
mumping with a sore leg in America, canting, and
whining, and complaining of faction, which represented them as friends to a revenue from the colomies. I hope nobody in this House will hereafter have the impudence to defend American taxes in the name
of ministry. The moment they do, with this letter of
attorney in my hand, I will: tell them, in the authorized terms, they are wretches "with factious and seditious views," "' enemies to the peace and prosperity of the mother country and the colonies," and subverters ". of the mutual affection and confidence on which
the glory and safety of the British empire depend. "
After this letter, the question is no more on propriety or dignity. They are gone already. The
faith of your sovereign is pledged for the political
principle. The general declaration in the letter goes
to the whole of it. You must therefore either abandon the scheme of taxing, or you must send the
ministers tarred and feathered to America, who dared
to hold out the royal faith for a renunciation of all
taxes for revenue. Them you must punish, or this
faith you must preserve. The preservation of this
faith is of more consequence than the duties on red
? ? ? ? 26 SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION.
lead, or white lead, or on broken glass, or atlas-ordi
nary, or demy-fine, or blue-royal, or bastard, or fools
cap, which you have given up, or tile three-pence on
tea. which you retained. The letter went stamped
with the public authority of this kingdom. The instructions for the colony government go under no
other sanction; and America cannot believe, and
will not obey you, if you do not preserve this channel
of communication sacred. You are now punishing
the colonies for acting on distinctions held out by
that. very ministry which is here shining in riches, in
favor, and in power, and urging the punishment of
the very offence to which they had tliemselves been
the tempters.
Sir, if reasons respecting simply your own commerce, which is your own convenience, were the sole
grounds of the repeal of the five duties, why does
Lord Hillsborough, in disclaiming in the name of the
king and ministry their ever having had an intent to
tax for revenue, mention it as the means "of reestablishing the confidence and affection of the colonies? "
Is it a way of soothing others, to assure them'that you
will take good care of yourself? The medium, the
only medium, for regaining their affection and confidence is that you will take off something oppressive
to their minds. Sir, the letter strongly enforces that
idea: for though the repeal of the taxes is promised
on- commercial principles, yet the means of counteracting the " insinuations of men with factious and seditious views " is by a disclaimer of the' intention of taxing for revenue, as a constant, invariable sentiment
and rule of conduct in the government of America.
I remember that the noble lord on the floor, not
in a former debate to be sure, (it would be disorderly
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 27
to refer to it, I suppose I read it somewhere,) but the
noble lord was pleased to say, that he did not con
ceive how it could enter into the head of man to impose. ;such taxes as those of 1767: I mean those taxes
which he voted for imposing, and voted for repealing,
-as being taxes, contrary to all the principles of
commerce, laid on. British manufactures.
I dare say the noble lord is perfectly well read,
because the duty of his particular office requires he
should be so, in all our revenue laws, and in the
policy which is to be collected out of them. Now,
Sir, when he had read this act of American revenue,
and a little recovered from his astonishment, I suppose he made one step retrograde (it is but one) and
looked at the act which stands just before in the statute-book. The American revenue act is the fortyfifth chapter; the other to which I refer is the fortyfourth of the same session. These two acts are bothl to the same purpose: both revenue acts; both taxing
out of the kingdom; and both taxing British manufactures exported. As the forty-fifth is an act for
raising a revenue in America, the forty-fourth is an
act for raising a revenue in the Isle of Man. The two
acts perfectly agree in all respects, except one. In the
act for taxing the Isle of Man the noble lord will find,
not, as in the American act, four or five articles,
but almost the whole body of British manufactures,
taxed fromtwo and a half to fifteen per cent, and
some articles~ such as that of spirits, a great deal
higher. -You did not think it uncommercial to tax
the whole mass of your manufactures, and, let me
add, your agriculture too; for, I now recollect, British corn is there also taxed up to ten per cent, and
this too in the very head-quarters, the very citadel of
? ? ? ? ~28;SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION.
smuggling, the Isle -of Man. Now will' the noble lord
condescend to tell me why he repealed -the taxes on
your manufactures sent out to America, and not the'taxes on the manufactures exported to the Isle of
Man? The principle was exactly the same, the ob-'jects. charged' infinitely more extensive, the duties
without comparison higher. Why? Why, notwithstanding all his childish pretexts, because the taxes
were quietly submitted to in the Isle of Man, and
because they raised a flame in America. Your reasons were political, not commercial. The repeal was
made, as Lord Hillsborough's letter well expresses it,
to regain. " the confidence and affection of the colonies, on which the glory and safety of the British empire'depend. " A wise and just motive, surely, if ever there was such. But the mischief and dishonor
is, that you have not done what you had given the
colonies just cause to expect, when your ministers
disclaimed the idea of taxes for a revenue. There is
nbthing simple, nothing manly, nothing ingenuous,
open, decisive, or steady, in the proceeding, with regard either to. the continuance or the repeal of the
taxes. The whole has an air of'littleness and fraud.
The article of tea is slurred over in the circular letter, as it were by accident: nothing is said of a
resolution'either to keep that tax or to give it up.
There is no fair, dealing in any part of the transaction.
If you mean to follow your true motive and your
public faith, give up your tax on tea for raising a
revenue, the principle of which has, in effect, been
disclaimed in your name, and which produces you
no advantage,-no, not a penny. Or, if you choose
to go on with'a poolr pretence instead of a solid rea
? ? ? ? SPEECH- ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 29
-son, and will still adhere- to your: cant of commerce,
you have ten thousand times more strong, commercial
reasons for givinlg. up tlhis duty on tea than for abanldoning the five others that you have already renlounced.
The American. consumption of teas is annually, I
believe, worth 300,0001. at the least farthing. If you
urge the American violence as a justification of your
perseverance in enforcing this tax, you know that you
can never answer this plain question, Why did you
repeal the others given. in the same act, whilst. the
very same violence subsisted? - But: you did not find
the violence cease rupon that concession. -. No! be-:cause the concession was far short of satisfying the:principle which Lord Hillsborough had abjured, or. even the pretence on which the repeal of the other taxes was announced; and because, by enabling the
East India Company to open a shop for defeating the
American resolution not to pay that specific tax, you
manifestly showed a hankering after the principle of
-the. act which you formerly, had renounced. Whatever road you take leads to a compliance with this
motion. It opens to you at the end of every visto.
Your commerce, your policy, your promises, your
reasons, your pretences, your consistency, your iin
consistency,- all jointly oblige you to this repeal.
But still it sticks in our throats, if. we go so far, the
Americans will go farther. - We do not know that.
We ought, from experience,. rather to presume the contrary. Do we-not know for. . certain, that the Americans are going on as fast as possible, whilst we refuse. to gratify them. ? -Can they do more, or can they do worse, if we yield this point? I think this concession will rather fix a turnpike to prevent their
? ? ? ? 30 SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION.
further progress. It is impossible to answer for bodies of men. But I am sure the natural effect of fidelity, clemency, kindness in governors is peace, goodwill, order, and esteem, on the part of the governed. I would certainly, at least, give these fair principles'. a
fair trial; which, since the making of this act to this
hour, they never have had.
Sir, the honorable gentleman having spoken what
he thought necessary upon the narrow part of the
subject, I have given him, I hope, a satisfactory answer. He next presses me, by a variety of direct
challenges and oblique reflections, to say something
on the historical part.
I shall therefore, Sir, open
myself fully on that important and delicate subject:
not for the sake of telling you a long story, (which, I
know, Mr. Speaker, you are not particularly fond of,)
but for the sake of the weighty instruction that, I
flatter myself, will necessarily result from it. It
shall not be longer, if I can help it, than so serious,
matter requires.
Permit me then, Sir, to lead your attention very
far back,-back to the Act of Navigation, the cornerstone of the policy of this country with regard to its
colonies. Sir, that policy was, from the beginning,
purely commercial; and the commercial system was
wholly restrictive. It was the system of a monopoly.
No trade was let'loose from that constraint, but merely to enable the colonists to dispose of what, in the
course of your trade, you could not take,-or to enable them to dispose of such articles as we forced upon
them, and for which, without some degree of liberty,
they could not pay. Hence all your specific and detailed enumerations; hence the innumerable checks
and counterchecks; hence that infinite variety of paper
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 31
chains by which you bind together this complicated
system of the colonies. This principle of commercial
monopoly runs through no less than twenty-nine acts
of Parliament, from the year 1660 to the unfortunate
period of 1764.
In all those acts the system of commerce is established as that from whence alone you proposed to
make the colonies contribute (I mean directly and by
the operation of your superintending legislative power) to the strength of the empire. I venture to say,
that, during that whole period, a Parliamentary revenue from thence was never once in contemplation.
Accordingly, in all the number of laws passed with
regard to the plantations, the words which distinguish revenue laws specifically as such were, I think,
premeditately avoided. I do not say, Sir, that a form
of words alters the nature of the law, or abridges the
power of the lawgiver. It certainly does not. How
ever, titles and formal preambles are not always idle
words; and the lawyers frequently argue from them.
I state these facts to show, not what was your right,
but what has been your settled policy. Our revenue
laws have usually a title, purporting their being grants;
and the words " give and grant" usually precede the enacting parts. Although duties were imposed on America in acts of King Charles the Second, and in acts of King William, no one title of giving " an aid to his
Majesty," or any other of the usual titles to revenue
acts, was to be found in any of them till 1764; nor were
the words " give and grant " in any preamble until the
sixth of George the Second. However, the title of this
act of George the Second, notwithstanding the words of
donation, considers it merely as a regulation of trade:
" An act for the better securing of the trade of his Maj
? ? ? ? 32 SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION,
esty's sugar colonies in America. " This act was made
on a compromise of all, and at the express desire of a
part, of the colonies themselves. It was therefore in
some measure with their consent; and having a title
directly purporting only a commercial regulation, and
being in truth. nothing more, the words were passed
by, at a time when no jealousy was entertained, and
things were little scrutinized. Even Governor Bernard, in his second printed letter, dated in 1763, gives it as his opinion, that " it was an act of prohibition,
not of revenue. " This is certainly true, that no act
avowedly for the. purpose of revenue, and with the
ordinary title and recital taken together,- is found in
the statute-book until the year I have mentioned:
that is, the year 1764. All before this period stood
on commercial regulation and restraint. The scheme
of a colony revenue by British authority appeared,
therefore, to the Americans in the light of a great innovation. : The words of Governor Bernard's ninth letter, written in: November, 1765, state this idea very
strongly. " It must," says he, " have been supposed
such an innovation as a Parliamentary taxation would
cause a great alarm, and meet with much opposition
in most parts of America; it was quite new to the
people, and had no visible bounds set to it. " After
stating the weakness of government there, he says,
" Was this a time to introduce so great a novelty as a
Parliamentary inland: taxation in America. ? " Whatever the right might have been, this mode of using it was absolutely new in policy and practice.
Sir, they who are friends to the schemes of American revenue say, that the commercial restraint is full as hard a law for America to live under. I think so,
too. :think it, if uncompensated, to be a condition
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN. TAXATION. 33
of as rigorous servitude as nmen can be subject to.
But America -bore it from the fundamental Act of
NaVigation: until 1764. Why? Because men do bear. the inevitable constitution of their original nature
-with all its infirmities. The Act of Navigation attended the colonies from their infancy, grew with
their growth, and strengthened with their strength.
They were confirmed in obedience to it even more
by. usage than by law. They scarcely had remembered a time when they were not subject to such re-,straint. . Besides, they were indemnified for it by a
pecuniary: compensation. Their monopolist happened
to be one of the richest men in the world. By his
immense capital (primarily employed:, not for their
benefit, but his own) they were enabled to proceed. with. their fisheries, their agriculture, their ship?
building, (and their trade, too, within the limits,) in
such a' manner as got far the start of the slow, languid operations of unassisted Nature. This capital
was a hot-bed to them. Nothing in the history of
mankindis like their progress. For my part, I never
cast an eye on their flourishing; commerce, and their
~cultivated'and commodious life, but they seem to me
rather ancient nations grown to perfection through a
lo'ng;series of fortunate events, and a train of success-:ful' industry, accumulating wealth in many centuries,:than the colonies of yesterday -- than a set of misera-,ble outcasts -a few years ago, not so much sent as thrown out on the bleak and barren shore of a deso-;late wilderness three thousand miles from all civil-'ized'intercourse.
All-this was. done by England whilst England pur-. sued,trade and forgot revenue. You not only ac-. quired: commerce, but you actually:created the very
VOL. II. 3
? ? ? ? 34 -SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION.
objects -- of trade in America; and, by that creation
you raised the trade of this kingdom at least fourfold. America had the compensation of your capital,
which made her bear'her servitude. She had another
compensation, which you are now going to take away
from her. She had, except the commercial restraint,
every characteristic mark of a free people in all her
internal concerns. She had the image of the British
Constitution. She had the substance. She was taxed
by her own representatives. She chose most of her
own magistrates. She paid them all. She had in
effect the sole disposal of her own internal government. This whole state of commercial servitude and
civil liberty, taken together, is certainly not perfect
freedom; but comparing it with the ordinary circum.
stances of human nature, it was an happy and a liberal condition.
I -know, Sir, that great and not unsuccessful pains
have been taken to inflame our minds by an outcry,
in this House, and out of it, that in America the Act
of Navigation neither is or never was obeyed. But
if you take the colonies through, I affirm that its authority never was disputed,- that it was nowhere disputed for any length of time, - and, on the whole, that it was well observed. Wherever the act pressed
hard, many individuals, indeed, evaded it. This is
nothing. These scattered individuals never denied
the law, and never obeyed it. Just as it happens,
whenever the laws of trade, whenever the laws of revenue, press hard upon the people in England: in that
case all your shores are full of contraband. Your
right to give a monopoly to the East India Company,
your right to lay immense duties on French brandy,
are not disputed in England. You do not make this
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 35
charge on any man. But you know that there is not
a creek from Pentland Frith to the Isle of Wight in
which they do not smuggle immense quantities of
teas, East India goods, -and brandies. I take it for
granted that the authority of Governor Bernard in
this point is indisputable. Speaking of these laws, as
they regarded that part of America now. in so unhappy a condition, he says,'" I believe they are nowhere'better supported than in this province: I do
not pretend that it is entirely free from a breach. of these laws, but that such a breach, if discovered,
is justly punished. " What more can you say of the
Iobedience to any laws in any country? An obedience to these laws formed the acknowledgment, instituted by yourselves, for your superiority, and was
the payment you originally imposed for your protection.
Whether you were right or wrong in establishing
the colonies on the principles of commercial monopoly, rather than on that of revenue, is at this day a
problem of mere speculation. You cannot have both
by the same authority. To join together the restraints of an universal internal -and external monopoly with an universal internal and external taxation is an unnatural union,-perfect, uncompensated slavery. You have long since decided for yourself
and them; and you and they'have prospered exceedingly under that decision.
This nation, Sir, never thought of departing from
that choice until the period immediately on the close
of the last war. Then a scheme of government, new
in many things, seemed to have been adopted. I saw,
or thought I saw, several symptoms of a great change,
whilst I sat in your gallery, a good while before I had
? ? ? ? 36 SPEECH: ON AMERICAN TAXATION. .
the honor7 of:a seat. in this House-. At that period
the necessity was: established of keeping up -no less
than twenty new regiments, with twenty colonels
capable` of seats in this House. . This scheme was
adopted with very general applause from all sides, at
the very time that, by your conquests in America,
your: danger from foreign attempts in that part of
the world was much lessened, or indeed rather quite
over. When- this huge increase of military establishmeit' was resolved on, a revenue was to be found to support so great a burden. Country gentlemen, the
great patrons of economy, and the great resisters of
a standing armed force, would not have entered with
nouch alacrity into the vote for so large and so expensive an army, if they had been very sure that they were to continue to pay for it. But hopes of another
kind were held out to them; and in particular, I well
remember that Mr. Townshend, in a brilliant harangue on this subject, did dazzle them by playing before their eyes the image of a revenue to be raised
in America.
Here began to dawn the first glimmerings of this
new colony system. It appeared more distinctly afterwards, when it was devolved upon a person, to whom, on other accounts, this country owes very
great obligations. I do believe that he had a very
serious desire to benefit the public. But with no
small study of the detail, he did not seem to have his
view, at least equally, carried to the total circuit of
our affairs. He generally considered his objects ill
lights that were rather too detached. Whether the
business of an American revenue was imposed upoll
him altogether, - whether' it was entirely the result
of his own speculation, or, what is more probable, that
? ? ? ? SPEECH ON AMERICAN TAXATION. 37
his own ideas rather coincided with the instructions
he- had received, - certain it is, that, with the: best
intentions in the'. . world, he first brought this fatal
scheme. into form, and established it by Act of Par
liament.
No,:man can believe, that, at this time of day, I
mean to lean on the venerable memory of a great
man, whose loss we. deplore. in common. Our little
party differences. have, been long ago composed; and
I have acted more with him, and. certainly with more
pleasure with him,. than ever I acted against him.
Undoubtedly Mr. Grenville was a first-rate figure in
this country. With a masculine. understanding, and
a stout and resolute heart, he had. an. application undissipated and unwearied. He took public business,
not as a duty which he was to fulfil,,but as a~ pleasure
he:was to enjoy; and he seemed to have no delight
out of tihis House, except in such things as some way
related to the business that was to be done within it. ,
If he was ambitious, I will say this for him, his ambi-.
tion was of a noble and generous strain. It was to.
raise:himself, not by the. low, pimping'politics of a
court, but to-win his way to power through the laborious gradations of public service, and to secure himself a. well-earned'rank in Parliament by a. thorough, knowledge of its constitution'and a perfect practice
in all:its business.
Sir, if such a man fell. illto errors, it must be -tfrom
defects not intrinsical; they must be rather sought
in- the particular', habits of his life, which, though
they- do not. alter the groundwork of character, yet
tinge it with: their own hue. . He was bred in a:profession. , He. :was bred to -the law, which is, il. my
opinion:, -one. of. . the first and noblest of human sci
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ences,-a science which does more to quicken and
invigorate the understanding than all the other kinds
of learning put together; but it is not apt, except in
persons very happily born, to open and to liberalize
the mind exactly in the same proportion. Passing
from that study, he did not go very largely into the
world, but plunged into business, --I mean into the
business of office, and the limited and fixed methods
and forms established there. Much knowledge is to
be had, undoubtedly, in that line; and there is no
knowledge which is not valuable. But it may be
truly said, that men too much conversant in office
are rarely, minds of remarkable enlargement. Their
habits of office are apt to give them a turn to think
the substance of business not to be much more important than the forms in which it is conducted. These
forms are adapted to ordinary occasions; and therefore persons who are nurtured in: office do admirably
well as long as things go on in their common order;
but when the high-roads are broken up, and the waters out, when a new and troubled scene is opened,
and the file'affords no precedent, then it is that a
greater knowledge of mankind, and a far more extensive comprehension of. things is requisite, than ever
office gave, or than office can ever give. Mr. Grenville thought better of the wisdom and power of human legislation than in truth it deserves. He conceived, and many conceived along with him, that the flourishing trade of this country was greatly owing to
law and institution, and not quite so much to liberty;
for but too many are apt to believe regulation to be
commerce, and taxes to be revenue. Among regulations, that which'stood first in reputation was his
idol: I mean the Act of Navigation. He has often
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professed it to be so. The, policy of that act is, I
readily admit, in many. respects well understood.