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Important effects followed this act of wisdom. They
appeared at home and abroad, to the great benefit of
this kingdom, and, let me hope, to the advantage of
mankind at large. It betokened union among ourselves. It showed soundness, even on the part of the
persecuted, which generally is the weak side of ev ery
community. But its most essential operation was not
in England. The act was immediately, though very
imperfectly, copied in Ireland; and this imperfect
transcript of an imperfect act, this first faint sketch
of toleration, which did little more than disclose -a
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principle and mark out a disposition, completed in
a most wonderful manner the reunion to the state
of all the Catholics of that country. It made us what
we ought always to have been, one family, one body,
one heart and soul, against the family combination
and all other combinations of our enemies. We have,
indeed, obligations to that people, who received such
small benefits with so much gratitude, and for which
gratitude and attachment to us I am afraid they have
suffered not a little in other places.
I dare say you have all heard of the privileges
indulged to the Irish Catholics residing in Spain.
You have likewise heard with what circumstances of
severity they have been lately expelled from the seaports of that kingdom, driven into the inland cities, and there detained as a sort of prisoners of state. I
have good reason to believe that it was the zeal to our
government and our cause (somewhat indiscreetly
expressed in one of the addresses of the Catholics of
Ireland) which has thus drawn down on their heads
the indignation of the court of Madrid, to the inexpressible loss of several individuals, and, in future, perhaps to the great detriment of the whole of their
body. Now that our people should be persecuted in
Spain for their attachment to this country, and persecuted in this country for their supposed enmity to us, is such a jarring reconciliation of contradictory
distresses, is a thing at once so dreadful and ridiculous, that no malice short of diabolical would wish to continue any human creatures in such a situation.
But honest men will not forget either their merit or
their sufferings. There are men (and many, I trust,
there are) who, out of love to their country and tfieir
kind, would torture their invention to find excuses
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for the mistakes of their brethren, and who, to stifle
dissension, would construe even doubtful appearances
with the utmost favor: such men will never persuade
themselves to be ingenious and refined in discovering disaffection and treason in the manifest, palpable signs of suffering loyalty. Persecution is so unnatural to them, that they gladly snatch the very first opportunity of laying aside all the tricks and devices
of penal politics, and of returning home, after all
their irksome and vexatious wanderings, to our natural family mansion, to the grand social principle that unites all men, in all descriptions, under the shadow
of an equal and impartial justice.
Men of another sort, I mean the bigoted enemies
to liberty, may, perhaps, in their politics, make no
account of the good or ill affection of the Catholics of
England, who are but an handful of people, (enough
to torment, but not enough to fear,) perhaps not so
many, of both sexes and of all ages, as fifty thousand.
But, Gentlemen, it is possible you may not know that
the people of that persuasion in Ireland amount at
least to sixteen or seventeen hundred thousand souls.
I do not at all exaggerate the number. A nation to'be persecuted! Whilst we were masters of the sea, embodied with America, and in alliance with half the
powers of the Continent, we might, perhaps, in that
remote corner of Europe, afford to tyrannize with impunity. But there is a revolution in our affairs,
which makes it prudent to be just. In our late awkward contest with Ireland about trade, had religion been thrown in, to ferment and embitter the mass of
discontents, the consequences might have been truly
dreadful. But, very happily, that cause of quarrel
was previously quieted by the wisdom of the acts I
am commending.
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Even in England, where I admit the danger from
the discontent of that persuasion to be less than in
Ireland, yet even here, had we listened to the counsels of fanaticism and folly, we might have wounded
ourselves very deeply, and wounded ourselves in a
very tender part. You are apprised that the Catholics of England consist mostly of our best manufacturers. Had the legislature chosen, instead of returning their declarations of duty with correspondent good-will, to drive them to despair, there is a country
at their very door to which they would be invited,- a
country in all respects as good as ours, and with the
finest cities in the world ready built to receive them.
And thus the bigotry of a free country, and in an
enlightened age, would have repeopled the cities of
Flanders, which, in the darkness of two hundred years
ago, had been desolated by the superstition of a cruel
tyrant. Our manufactures were the growth of the
persecutions in the Low Countries. What a spectacle would it Be to Europe, to see us at this time of
day balancing the account of tyranny with those very
countries, and by our persecutions driving back trade
and manufacture, as a sort of vagabonds, to their
original settlement! But I trust we shall be saved
this last of disgraces.
So far as to the effect of the act on the interests of
this nation. With regard to the interests of mankind
at large, I am sure the benefit was very considerable.
Long before this act, indeed, the spirit of toleration
began to gain ground in Europe. In Holland the
third part of the people are Catholics; they live at
ease, and are a sound part of the state. In many
parts of Germany, Protestants and Papists partake
the same cities, the same councils, and even the
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same churches. The unbounded liberality of the
king of Prussia's conduct on this occasion is known
to all the world; and it is of a piece with the other
grand maxims of his reign. The magnanimity of the
Imperial court, breaking through the narrow principles of its predecessors, has indulged its Protestant subjects, not only with property, with worship, with liberal education, but with honors and trusts, both civil and military. A worthy Protestant gentleman of this
country now fills, and fills with credit, an high office
in the Austrian Netherlands. Even the Lutheran
obstinacy of Sweden has thawed at length, and opened a toleration to all religions. I know, myself, that
in France the Protestants begin to be at rest. The
army, which in that country is everything, is open to
them; and some of the military rewards and decorations which the laws deny are supplied by others,
to make the service acceptable and honorable. The
first minister of finance in that country is a Protestant. Two years' war without a tax is among the first
fruits of their liberality. Tarnished as the glory of this
nation is, and far as it has waded into the shades
of an eclipse, some beams of its former illumination
still play upon its surface; and what is done in England is still looked to, as argument, and as example.
It is certainly true, that no law of this country ever
met with such universal applause abroad, or was so
likely to produce the perfection of that tolerating
spirit which, as I observed, has been long gaining
ground in Europe: for abroad -it was universally
thought that we had done what I am sorry to say
we had not; they thought we had granted a full toleration. That opinion was, however, so far from hurting the Protestant cause, that I declare, with the
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most serious solemnity, my firm belief that no one
thing done for these fifty years past was so likely to
prove deeply beneficial to our religion at large as Sir
George Savile's act. In its effects it was " an act for
tolerating and protecting Protestantism throughout
Europe "; and I hope that those who were taking
steps for the quiet and settlement of our Protestant
brethren in other countries will, even yet, rather
consider the steady equity of the greater and better
part of the people of Great Britain than the vanity
and violence of a few.
I perceive, Gentlemen, by the manner of all about
me, that you look with horror on the wicked clamor
which has been raised on this subject, and that, instead of an apology for what was done, you rather demand from me an account, why the execution of the scheme of toleration was not made more answerable
to the large and liberal grounds on which. it was
taken up. The question is natural and proper; and I
remember that a great and learned magistrate,* distinguished for his strong and systematic understanding, and who at that time was a member of the House of Commons, made the same objection to the proceeding. The statutes, as they now stand, are, without
doubt, perfectly absurd. But I beg leave to explain
the cause of this gross imperfection in the tolerating
plan, as well and as shortly as I am able. It was
universally thought that the session ought not to
pass over without doing something in this business.
To revise the whole body of the penal statutes was
conceived to be an object too big for the time. The
penal statute, therefore, which was chosen for repeal
(chosen to show our disposition to conciliate, not to
* The Chancellor.
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perfect a toleration) was this act of ludicrous cruelty
of which I have just given you the history. It is an
act which, though not by a great deal so fierce and
bloody as some of the rest, was infinitely more ready
in the execution. It was the act which gave the
greatest encouragement to those pests of' society,
mercenary informers and interested disturbers of
household peace; and it was'observed with truth,
that the prosecutions, either carried to conviction or
compounded, for many years, had been all commenced
upon that act. It was said, that, whilst we were deliberating on a more perfect scheme, the spirit of the
age would never come up to the execution of the
statutes which remained, especially as more steps,
and a cooperation of more minds and powers, were
required towards a mischievous use of them, than for
the execution of the act to be repealed: that it was
better to unravel this texture from below than from
above, beginning with the,latest, which, in general
practice, is the severest evil. It was alleged, that this
slow proceeding would be attended with the advantage
of a progressive experience, - and that the people
would grow reconciled to toleration, when they should
find, by the effects, that justice was not so irreconcilable an enemy to convenience as they had imagined.
These, Gentlemen, were the reasons why we left
this good work in the rude, unfinished state in which
good works are commonly left, through the tame circumspection with which a timid prudence so frequently enervates beneficence. In doing good, we are generally cold, and languid, and sluggish, and
of all things afraid of being too much in the right.
But the works of malice and injustice are quite in
another style. They are finished with a bold, mass
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terly hand, touched as they are with the spirit of
those vehement passions that call forth all our energies, whenever we oppress and persecute.
Thus this matter was left for the time, with a full
determination in Parliament not to suffer other and
worse statutes to remain for the purpose of counteracting the benefits proposed by the repeal of one penal law: for nobody then dreamed of defending what was done as a benefit, on the ground of its being no
benefit at all. We were not then ripe for so mean a
subterfuge.
I do not wish to go over the horrid scene. that
was afterwards acted. Would to God it could be
expunged forever from the annals of this country!
But since it must subsist for our shame, let it subsist
for our instruction. In the year 1780 there were
found in this nation men deluded enough, (for I give
the whole to their delusion,) on pretences of zeal and
piety, without any sort of provocation whatsoever,
real or pretended, to make a desperate attempt,
which would have consumed all the glory and power
of this country in the flames of London, and buried
all law, order, and religion under the ruins of the
metropolis of the Protestant world. Whether all
this mischief done, or in the direct train of doing, was
in their original scheme, I cannot say; I hope it was
not: but this would have been the unavoidable consequence of their proceedings, had not the flames
they had lighted up in their fury been extinguished
in their blood.
All the time that this horrid scene was acting, or
avenging, as well as for some time before, and ever
since, the wicked instigators of this unhappy multitude, guilty, with every aggravation, of all their
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pity, or remorse, to blow up the blind rage of the
populace with a continued blast of pestilential libels,
which infected and poisoned the very air we breathed
in.
The main drift of all the libels and all the riots
was, to force Parliament (to persuade us was hopeless) into an act of national perfidy which has no example. For, Gentlemen, it is proper you should
all know what infamy we escaped by refusing that
repeal, for a refusal of which, it seems, I, among others, stand' somewhere or other accused. When we
took away, on the motives which I had the honor of
stating to you, a few of'the innumerable penalties
upon an oppressed and injured people, the relief was
not absolute, but given on a stipulation and compact between them and us: for we bound down the
Roman Catholics with the most solemn oaths to
bear true allegiance to this government, to abjure
all sort of temporal power in any other, and to renounce, under the same solemn obligations, the doctrines of systematic perfidy with which they stood:(I conceive very unjustly) charged. Now our modest petitioners came up to us, most humbly praying! nothing more than that we should break our fai on their part, fully performed their engagement,. we
should refuse, on our part, the benefit we had stipulated on the performance of those very conditions
that were prescribed by our own authority, and taken on the sanction of our public faith: that is to
say', when we had inveigled them with fair promises
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within our door, we were to shut it on them, and
adding mockery to outrage, to tell them,-" Noi
we have got you fast: your consciences are bounc
to a power resolved on your destruction. We hayv
made you. swear that your religion, obliges you t(
keep your faith: fools as you are! we will now le
you see that our religion enjoins us to keep no faitt
with you. " They who would advisedly call upor
us to do such things must certainly have thought u
not only a convention of treacherous tyrants, but
gang of the lowest and dirtiest wretches that eve
disgraced humanity. Had we done this, we shoul
have indeed proved that there were some in th
world whom no faith could bind; and we shoul
have convicted ourselves of that odious principle of
which Papists stood accused by those very savages
who wished us, on that accusation, to deliver them
over to their fury.
In this audacious tumult, when our very name and
character as gentlem'en was to be cancelled forever,
along with the faith and honor of the nation, I, who
had exerted myself very little on the quiet passing of
the bill, thought it necessary then to come forward.
I was not alone; but though some distinguished
members on all sides, and particularly on ours, added
much to their high reputation by the' part they took
on that day, (a part which will be remembered as long
as honor, spirit, and eloquence have estimation in the
world,) I may and will value myself so far, that, yielding in abilities to many, I yielded in zeal to none. With warmth and with vigor, and animated with a
just and natural indignation, I called forth every faculty that I possessed, and I directed it in every way in which I could possibly employ it. I labored night
? ? ? ? PREVIOUS TO THE ELECTION. 413,and day. I labored in Parliament; I labored out of
Parliament. If, therefore, the resolution of the House'of Commons, refusing to commit this act of unmatched:turpitude, be a crime, I am guilty among the foremost. B'ut, indeed, whatever the faults of that House may
have been, no one member was found hardy enough
to propose so infamous a thing; and on full debate
we passed the resolution against the petitions with as
much unanimity as we had formerly passed the law
of which these petitions demanded the repeal. : There was a circumstance (justice will not suffer
me to pass it over) which, if anything could enforce
the reasons I have given, would fully justify the act
of relief, and render a repeal, or anything like a repeal, unnatural, impossible. It was the behavior of
the persecuted Roman Catholics under the acts of
violence and brutal insolence which they suffered.
i suppose there are not in London less than four or
five thousand. of that persuasion from my country,
who do a great deal of the most laborious works in
the metropolis; and they chiefly inhabit those quarters which were the principal theatre of the fury of
the bigoted multitude. They are. known to be men
of strong arms and quick feelings, and more remarkable for a determined resolution than clear ideas or. much foresight. But, though provoked by everything
that can stir the blood of men, their houses and chapels in flames, and with the most atrocious profanations of everything which they hold sacred before
their eyes, not a hand was moved to retaliate, or even
to defend. Had a conflict once begun, the rage of
their persecutors would have redoubled. Thus fury
increasing by the reverberation of outrages, house
being. fired for house, and church for chapel, I am
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convinced that no power under heaven could have
prevented a general conflagration, and at this day
London would have been a tale. But I am well
informed, and the thing speaks it, that their clergy
exerted their whole influence to keep their people i
such a state of forbearance and quiet, as, when I look
back, fills me with astonishment, - but not with astonishment only. Their merits on that occasion ought not to be forgotten; nor will they, when Englishmen
come to recollect themselves. I am sure it were fa
more proper to have called them forth, and given them
the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, than to have
suffered those worthy clergymen and excellent citizens to be hunted into holes and corners, whilst we are making low-minded inquisitions into the number
of their people; as if a tolerating principle was never
to prevail, unless we were very sure that only a few
could possibly take advantage of it. But, indeed, we
are not yet well recovered of our fright. Our reason,
I trust, will return with our security, and this unfortunate temper will pass over like a cloud.
Gentlemen, I have now laid before you a few of the
reasons for taking away the penalties of the act of
1699, and for refusing to establish them on the riotous requisition of 1780. Because I would not suffer anything which may be for your satisfaction to escape, permit me just to touch on the objections urged against our act and our resolves, and intended as a
justification of the violence offered to both Houses.
"'Parliament," they assert, " was too hasty, and they
ought, in so essential and alarming a change, to have
proceeded with a far greater degree, of deliberation. "
The direct contrary. Parliament was too slow. They:
took fourscore years to deliberate on the repeal of an
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act which ought not to have survived a second session. When at length, after a procrastination of near
a century, the business was taken up, it proceeded in
the most public manner, by the ordinary stages, and
as slowly as a law so evidently riglit as to be resisted
by none would naturally advance. Had it been read
three times in one day, we should have shown only a
becoming readiness to recognize, by protection, the
undoubted dutiful behavior of those whom we had
but too long punished for offences of presumption or
conjecture. But for what end was that bill to linger
beyond the usual period of an unopposed measure?
Was it to be delayed until a rabble in Edinburgh
should dictate to the Church of England what measure of persecution was fitting for her safety? Was
it to be adjourned until a fanatical force could be collected in London, sufficient to frighten us out of all
our ideas of policy and justice? 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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.