FOUR EARLY PAMPHLETS
BY WILLIAM GODWIN
1783
[A Defense of the Rockingham Party, in Their Late Coalition with
the Right Honorable Frederic Lord North]
[Instructions to a Statesman]
[An Account of the Seminary]
[The Herald of Literature]
A
DEFENCE
OF THE
ROCKINGHAM PARTY,
IN THEIR LATE
COALITION
WITH
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE FREDERIC LORD NORTH.
LONDON: Printed for J. STOCKDALE, opposite Burlington House, Piccadilly.
1783. [Price One Shilling and Sixpence.] _Entered at Stationers Hall._
A
DEFENCE
OF THE
ROCKINGHAM PARTY,
&C. &C. &C.
* * * * *
The present reign will certainly appear to our posterity full of the
noblest materials for history. Many circumstances seem to have pointed
it out as a very critical period. The general diffusion of science has,
in some degree, enlightened the minds of all men; and has cleared such,
as have any influence upon the progress of manners and society, from a
thousand unworthy pre-possessions. The dissipation and luxury that reign
uncontrouled have spread effiminacy and irresolution every where.--The
grand defection of the United States of America from the mother country,
is one of the most interesting events, that has engaged the attention of
Europe for centuries. And the number of extraordinary geniuses that have
distinguished themselves in the political world, gives a dignity to the
scene. They pour a lustre over the darkest parts of the story, and
bestow a beauty upon the tragedy, that it could not otherwise have
possessed.
At a time like this, when the attention of mankind has been kept alive
by a series of the most important events, we cease to admire at things
which would otherwise appear uncommon, and wonders almost lose their
name. Even now, however, when men were almost grown callous to novelty,
and the youngest of us had, like Cato in the play, lived long enough to
be "surprised at nothing," a matter has occurred which few expected, and
to which, for that reason, men of no great strength of mind, of no nerve
of political feeling, scarcely know how to reconcile themselves. I refer
to the coalition between the friends of the late marquis of Rockingham
and the noble commoner in the blue ribbon.
The manner of blaming this action is palpable and easy. The censure is
chiefly directed against that wonderful man, whom, at least in their
hearts, his countrymen, I believe, have agreed to regard as the person
of brightest genius, and most extensive capacity, that now adorns the
British senate. Has not this person, we are asked, for years attacked
the noble lord in the most unqualified manner? Is there any aspersion,
any insinuation, that he has not thrown out upon his character? Has he
not represented him as the weakest man, and the worst minister, to whom
the direction of affairs was ever committed? Has he not imputed to his
prerogative principles, and his palpable misconduct, the whole catalogue
of our misfortunes? If such men as these are to unite for the detested
purposes of ambition, what security can we have for any thing valuable,
that yet remains to us? Is not this the very utmost reach of frontless
profligacy? What dependence after this is to be placed in the man, who
has thus given the lie to all his professions, and impudently flown in
the face of that honest and unsuspecting virtue, which had hitherto
given him credit for the rectitude of his intentions?
I do not mean for the present to enter into a direct answer to these
several observations. I leave it to others, to rest the weight of their
cause upon sounding exclamations and pompous interogatories. For myself,
I am firmly persuaded, that the oftner the late conduct of the
Rockingham connexion is summoned to the bar of fair reason, the more
cooly it is considered, and the less the examiner is led away by the
particular prejudices of this side or of that, the more commendable it
will appear. We do not fear the light. We do not shun the scrutiny. We
are under no apprehensions for the consequences.
I will rest my argument upon the regular proof of these three
propositions.
First--That the Rockingham connexion, was the only connexion by which
the country could be well served.
Secondly--That they were not by themselves of sufficient strength to
support the weight of administration.
Thirdly--That they were not the men whose services were the most likely
to be called for by the sovereign, in the present crisis.
First--I am to prove, that the country could not be well served but by
the Rockingham connexion.
There are three points principally concerned in the constituting a good
administration; liberal principles, respectable abilities, and
incorruptible integrity.--Let us examine with a view to these, the other
four parties in the British government. The connexion of the earl of
Shelburne, that of lord North, the Bedford party, and the Scottish. In
reviewing these, it is necessary that I should employ a manly freedom,
though, at the same time, I should be much unwilling to do a partial
injustice to any of them.
It is true, there is some difference between the language of the same
men in office, and out of office. The Bedford connexion, however, have
never been conceived to bear an over favourable aspect to the cause of
liberty. They are the avowed enemies of innovation and reform.
The Scottish party are pretty much confounded with the set of men that
are called, by way of distinction, the king's friends. The design of
these men has been to exalt regal power and prerogative upon the ruins
of aristocracy, and the neck of the people. Arguments, and those by no
means of a frivolous description, have been brought to prove, that a
most subtle and deep-laid scheme was formed by them, in the beginning of
the reign, to subserve this odious purpose. It has been supposed to have
been pursued with the most inflexible constancy, and, like a skiff, when
it sails along the meandering course of a river, finally to have turned
to account the most untoward gales.
Lord North, whatever we may suppose to have been his intrinsic
abilities, stands forward, as, perhaps, the most unfortunate minister,
that this country ever produced. Misfortune overtook him in the
assertion of the highest monarchical principles. In spite of misfortune,
he adherred inflexibly to that assertion. In the most critical
situations he remained in a state of hesitation and uncertainty, till
the tide, that "taken at the flood, led up to fortune," was lost. His
versatility, and the undisguised attachment, that he manifested to
emolument and power, were surely unworthy of the stake that was
entrusted to him.
In what I have now said, I do not much fear to be contradicted. It was
not with a view to such as are attached to any of these parties, that I
have taken up the pen. Those who come under this description, are almost
universally the advocates of monarchy, and think that they have nothing
to regret, but that power and police are not established upon a more
uncontrolable footing among us. To such persons I do not address myself.
I know of nothing that the friends of lord Rockingham have to offer that
can be of any weight with them; and, for my own part, I should blush to
say a word, that should tend to conciliate their approbation to a
system, in which my heart was interested. The men I wish chiefly to have
in view, are those that are personally attached to the earl of
Shelburne; such as stand aloof from all parties, and are inclined to
have but an indifferent opinion of any; and such as have adhered to the
connexion I have undertaken to defend, but whose approbation has been
somewhat cooled by their late conduct. The two last in particular, I
consider as least under the power of prejudice, and most free to the
influence of rational conviction.
The friends of freedom have, I believe, in no instance hesitated, but
between the Rockingham connexion, and the earl of Shelburne. It is these
two then that it remains for me to examine. Lord Shelburne had the
misfortune of coming very early upon the public stage. At that time he
connected himself with the earl of Bute, and entered with warmth into
the opposition to Mr. secretary Pitt. In this system of conduct,
however, he did not long persist; he speedily broke with the favourite,
and soon after joined the celebrated hero, that had lately been the
object of his attack. By this person he was introduced to a considerable
post in administration. In office, he is chiefly remembered by the very
decisive stile of authority and censure he employed, in a public letter,
relative to the resistance that was made to the act of 1767, for
imposing certain duties in America. From his resignation with lord
Chatham, he uniformly and strenuously opposed the measures that were
adopted for crushing that resistance. He persevered, with much apparent
constancy, in one line of conduct for near ten years, and this is
certainly the most plausible period of his story. He first called forth
the suspicions of generous and liberal men in every rank of society, by
his resolute opposition to the American independency in 1778. But it was
in the administration, that seemed to have been formed under so
favourable auspices in the spring of 1782, that he came most forward to
general examination.
The Rockingham connexion, in conformity to what were then supposed to be
the wishes of the people, united, though not without some hesitation,
with the noble earl and his adherents, in the conduct of public affairs.
And how did he reward their confidence? He was careful to retain the
question respecting his real sentiments upon the business of America, in
as much obscurity as ever. He wrote officially a letter to sir Guy
Carleton, which has never seen the light, by which that officer was
induced to declare the American independency already irreversibly
recognised by the court of London; by which he appears to have deceived
all his brother ministers without exception; and by which Mr. Fox in
particular, was induced to make the same declaration with general
Carleton to foreign courts, and to come forward in the commons
peremptorily to affirm, that there was not a second opinion in the
cabinet, upon this interesting subject. How must a man of his
undisguised and manly character have felt, when, within a week from this
time, he found the noble earl declaring that nothing had ever been
further from his thoughts, than an unconditional recognition; and
successfully exerting himself to bring over a majority in the cabinet to
the opposite sentiment? Lord Shelburne's obtaining, or accepting, call
it which you will, of the office of first lord of the treasury, upon the
demise of lord Rockingham, without the privity of his fellow Ministers,
was contrary to every maxim of ingenuous conduct, and every principle
upon which an association of parties can be supported. The declaration
he made, and which was contradicted both by his own friends in the
cabinet, and those of Mr. Fox, that he knew of no reason _in God's
earth_ for that gentleman's resignation, but that of his having
succeeded to the office of premier, was surely sufficiently singular.
But he is celebrated for being a man of large professions, and by these
professions he has induced some persons in different classes in society,
to esteem him the friend of liberty and renovation. What he has held
out, however, upon these heads, has not been entirely confident. He has
appeared the enthusiastical partizan of the aristocracy, a kind of
government, which, carried to its height, is perhaps, of all the
different species of despotism, the most intolerable. He has talked in a
very particular stile of his fears of reducing the regal power to a
shadow, of his desire that the extension of prerogative should keep pace
with the confirmation of popular rights, and his resolution, that, if it
were in his power to prevent it, a king of England should never be
brought to a level with a king of Mahrattas. The true sons of freedom
will not certainly be very apprehensive upon this score, and will leave
it to the numbers that will ever remain the adherents of monarchical
power, to guard the barriers of the throne. In opposition, his
declarations in favour of parliamentary reform seemed indeed very
decisive. In administration, he was particularly careful to explain away
these declarations, and to assure the people that he would never employ
any influence in support of the measure, but would only countenance it
so far as it appeared to be the sense of parliament. In other words,
that he would remain neutral, or at most only honour the subject with an
eloquent harangue, and interest himself no further respecting it.
But let us proceed from his language to his conduct in office. Almost
every salutary measure of administration, from the resignation of lord
North downward, was brought about during the union of the noble earl
with the Rockingham connexion. What inference are we to draw from
this?--That administration, as auspicious as it was transitory, has
never been charged with more than one error. They were thought too
liberal in the distribution of two or three sinecures and pensions. To
whom were they distributed? Uniformly, exclusively, to the friends of
lord Shelburne. Lord Shelburne proposed them to his august colleague,
and the marquis, whose faults, if he had any, were an excess of
mildness, and an unsuspecting simplicity, perhaps too readily complied.
But let it be remembered, that not one of his friends accepted, or to
not one of his friends were these emoluments extended. But, if the noble
marquis were sparing in the distribution of pensions, the deficiency was
abundantly supplied by his successor. While the interests of the people
were neglected and forgotten, the attention of the premier was in a
considerable degree engrossed by the petty arrangements of office. For
one man a certain department of business was marked out; the place had
been previously filled by another. Here the first person was at all
events to be promoted; and the second gratified with a pension. Thus, in
the minute detail of employment, in adjusting the indeclinables of a
court calendar, to detach a _commis_ from this department, and to fix a
clerk in that, burthen after burthen has been heaped upon the shoulders
of a callous and lethargic people.--But no man can say, that the earl of
Shelburne has been idle. Beside all this, he has restored peace to his
country. His merits in this business, have already been sufficiently
agitated. To examine them afresh would lead me too far from the scope of
my subject. I will not therefore now detain myself either to exculpate
or criminate the minister, to whom, whatever they are, they are
principally to be ascribed.
From the considerations already suggested, I am afraid thus much may be
fairly inferred, that the earl of Shelburne is a man, dark, insidious
and inexplicit in his designs; no decided friend of the privileges of
the people; and in both respects a person very improper to conduct the
affairs of this country. I would hope however, that the celebrated
character given of him by the late lord Holland was somewhat too severe.
"I have met with many, who by perseverance and labour have made
themselves Jesuits; it is peculiar to this man to have been born one."
Such then is the estimate we are compelled to form of a man who in his
professions has sometimes gone as far, as the most zealous votaries of
liberty. And what is the inference we shall draw from this? Shall we,
for the sake of one man so specious and plausible, learn to think the
language of all men equally empty and deceitful? Having once been
betrayed, shall we avoid all future risk, by treating every pretender to
patriotism and public spirit, as a knave and an impostor? This indeed is
a conclusion to which the unprincipled and the vicious are ever
propense. They judge of their fellows by themselves, and from the
depravity of their own hearts are willing to infer, that every honesty
has its price. But the very motive that inclines the depraved to such a
mode of reasoning, must, upon the very same account, deter the man of
virtue from adopting it. Virtue is originally ever simple and
unsuspecting. Conscious to its own rectitude, and the integrity of its
professions, it naturally expects the same species of conduct from
others. By every disappointment of this kind, it is mortified and
humbled. Long, very long must it have been baffled, and countless must
have been its mortifications, ere it can be induced to adopt a principle
of general mistrust. And that such a principle should have so large a
spread among persons, whose honesty, candour forbids us to suspect, is
surely, of all the paradoxe upon the face of the earth, incomparably the
greatest.--The man of virtue then will be willing, before he gives up
all our political connexions without distinction, to go along with me to
the review of the only one that yet remains to be examined, that of the
late marquis of Rockingham.
Too much perhaps cannot be said in their praise. They have nearly
engrossed the confidence of every friend of liberty. They are the only
men, whose principles were never darkened with the cloud of suspicion.
What, let me ask, has been their uniform conduct during the whole course
of the reign? They have been ever steady in their opposition, to
whatever bore an ill aspect to the cause of freedom, and to the whole
train of those political measures, that have terminated in calamity and
ruin. They have been twice in administration. Prosperity and power are
usually circumstances that prove the severest virtue. While in power how
then did this party conduct themselves?
Of their first administration the principal measure was the stamp act. A
law that restored tranquility to a distracted empire. A law, to which,
if succeeding administrations had universally adhered, we had been at
this moment, the exclusive allies and patrons of the whole continent of
North America. A law, that they carried in opposition to the all-dreaded
Mr. Pitt, on the one hand, and on the other, against the inclination of
those secret directors, from whose hands they receive their delegated
power. They repealed the excise upon cyder. They abolished general
warrants. And after having been the authors of these and a thousand
other benefits in the midst of storms and danger; they quitted their
places with a disinterestedness, that no other set of men have imitated.
They secured neither place, pension, nor reversion to themselves, or any
of their adherents.
Their second administration was indeed very short. But it was crowded
with the most salutary measures. The granting a full relief to Ireland.
The passing several most important bills of oeconomy and reformation.
The passing the contractors bill. The carrying into effect that most
valuable measure, the abolishing the vote of custom-house officers in
the election of members of parliament. And lastly, the attempt to
atchieve, that most important of all objects, the establishment of an
equal representation. What might not have been expected from their
longer continuance in office?
But I will not confine myself to the consideration of their conduct as a
body. The characters of the individuals of which they are composed, will
still further illustrate their true principles, and furnish a strong
additional recommendation of them, to every friend of virtue and of
liberty. That I may not overcharge this part of my subject, I will only
mention two or three of their most distinguished leaders.
The character of the present chancellor of the exchequer is entirely an
_unique_. Though mixing in all the busy scenes of life, though occupying
for many years a principal place in the political affairs of this
country, he has _kept himself unspotted from the world_.--The word of
the elder Cato was esteemed so sacred with the Romans, that it became a
proverb among them respecting things, so improbable, that their truth
could not be established even by the highest authority, "I would not
believe it, though it were told me by Cato." And in an age much more
dissipated than that of Cato, the integrity and honour of the noble lord
I have mentioned, has become equally proverbial. Not bonds, nor deeds,
nor all the shackles of law, are half so much to be depended upon as is
his lightest word. He is deaf to all the prejudices of blood or private
friendship, and has no feelings but for his country.
Of the duke of Portland, I can say the less, as not having had an
opportunity of knowing much respecting him. His candour and his honour
have never been questioned. And I remember, in the debate upon the
celebrated secession of the Rockingham party, upon the death of their
leader, to have heard his abilities particularly vouched in very strong
terms, by Mr. chancellor Pitt, and the present lord Sidney. The latter
in particular, though one of my lord Shelburne's secretaries of state,
fairly avowed in so many words, that he should have been better
satisfied with the appointment of his grace, to the office he now holds,
than he was, with the noble lord, under whom he acted.
The character of lord Keppel, with persons not attached to any party,
has usually been that of a man of much honesty and simplicity, without
any remarkable abilities. It is a little extraordinary however, that,
though forced by a combination of unfavourable circumstances into a
public speaker, he is yet, even in that line, very far from contempt.
His speeches are manly, regular, and to the purpose. His defence upon
his trial at Portsmouth, in which he must naturally be supposed to have
had at least a principal share, has, in my opinion, much beauty of
composition. The adversaries of this party, though unwilling to admit
that the navy was so much improved under his auspices as was asserted,
have yet, I believe, universally acknowledged his particular activity
and diligence.
But I come to the great beast of his own party, and the principal object
of attack to their enemies, the celebrated Mr. Fox. Men of formality and
sanctity have complained of him as dissipated. They do not pretend
however to aggravate their accusation, by laying to his charge any of
the greater vices. His contempt of money, and his unbounded generosity,
are universally confessed. Let such then know, that dissipation, so
qualified, is a very slight accusation against a public man, if indeed
it deserves a serious consideration. In all expansive minds, in minds
formed for an extensive stage, to embrace the welfare and the interest
of nations, there is a certain incessant activity, a principle that must
be employed. Debar them from their proper field, and it will most
inevitably run out into excesses, which perhaps had better have been
avoided. But do these excrescences, which only proceed from the richness
and fertility of the soil, disqualify a man for public business? Far,
very far from it. Where ever was there a man, who pushed dissipation and
debauchery to a greater length, than my lord Bolingbroke? And yet it is
perhaps difficult to say, whether there ever existed a more industrious,
or an abler minister. The peace of Utrecht, concluded amidst a thousand
difficulties, from our allies abroad, and our parties, that were never
so much exasperated against each other at home; must ever remain the
monument of his glory. His opposition to sir Robert Walpole seems
evidently to have been founded upon the most generous principles. And
though the warmth and ebullition of his passions evermore broke in upon
his happiest attempts, yet were his exertions in both instances attended
with the most salutary consequences. But Mr. Fox appears to me to
possess all the excellencies, without any of the defects of lord
Bolingbroke. His passions have, I believe, never been suspected of
having embroiled the affairs of his party, and he has uniformly retained
the confidence of them all. His friendships have been solid and
unshaken. His conduct cool and intrepid. The littleness of jealousy
never discoloured a conception of his heart. In office he was more
constant and indefatigable, than lord Bolingbroke himself. All his
lesser pursuits seemed annihilated, and he was swallowed up in the
direction of public affairs.
He has been accused of ambition. Ambition is a very ambiguous term. In
its lowest sense, it sinks the meanest, and degrades the dirtiest of our
race. In its highest, I cannot agree with those who stile it the defect
of noble minds. I esteem it worthy of the loudest commendation, and the
most assiduous culture. Mr. Fox's is certainly not an ambition of
emolument. Nobody dreams it. It is not an ambition, that can be
gratified by the distribution of places and pensions. This is a passion,
that can only dwell in the weakest and most imbecil minds. Its necessary
concomitants, are official inattention and oscitancy. No. The ambition
of this hero is a generous thirst of fame, and a desire of possessing
the opportunity of conferring the most lasting benefits upon his
country. It is an instinct, that carries a man forward into the field of
fitness, and of God.
The vulgar, incapable of comprehending these exalted passions, are apt
upon the slightest occasions to suspect, that this heroical language is
only held out to them for a lure, and that the most illustrious
characters among us are really governed by passions, equally incident to
the meanest of mankind. Let such examine the features and the manners
of Mr. Fox. Was that man made for a Jesuit? Is he capable of the dirty,
laborious, insidious tricks of a hypocrite? Is there not a certain
manliness about him, that disdains to mislead? Are not candour and
sincerity, bluntness of manner, and an unstudied air, conspicuous in all
he does?--I know not how far the argument may go with others, with me, I
confess, it has much weight. I believe a man of sterling genius,
incapable of the littlenesses and meannesses, incident to the vulgar
courtier. What are the principal characteristics of genius? Are they not
large views, infinite conceptions, a certain manliness and intrepidity
of thinking? But all real and serious vice originates in selfish views,
narrow conceptions, and intellectual cowardice. A man of genius may
possibly be thoughtless, dissipated and unstudied; but he cannot avoid
being constant, generous, and sincere. The union of first rate abilities
with malignity, avarice, and envy, seems to me very nearly as incredible
a phenomenon, as a mermaid, a unicorn, or a phoenix.
I cannot overcome the propensity I feel to add Mr. Burke to this
illustrious catalogue, though the name of this gentleman leads me out of
the circle of the cabinet. Mr. Burke raised himself from an obscure
situation, by the greatness of his abilities, and his unrivalled genius.
Never was distinction more nobly earned. Of every species of literary
composition he is equally a master. He excels alike in the most abstruse
metaphysical disquisition, and in the warmest and most spirited
painting. His rhetoric is at once ornamented and sublime. His satire is
polished and severe. His wit is truly Attic. Luxuriant in the extreme,
his allusions are always striking, and always happy. But to enumerate
his talents, is to tell but half his praise. The application he has made
of them is infinitely more to his honour. He has devoted himself for his
country. The driest and most laborious investigations have not deterred
him. Among a thousand other articles, that might be mentioned, his
system of oeconomical reform must for ever stand forth, alike the
monument of his abilities, and his patriotism. His personal character is
of the most amiable kind. Humanity and benevolence are strongly painted
in his countenance. His transactions with lord Rockingham were in the
highest degree honourable to him. And the more they are investigated,
and the better they are understood, the more disinterestedness of
virtue, and generous singularity of thinking, will be found to have been
exhibited on both sides.
It is necessary perhaps, that I should say a word respecting the
aristocratical principles of this gentleman, by which he is
distinguished from the rest of his party. To these principles I profess
myself an enemy. I am sorry they should be entertained by a person, for
whom, in every other respect, I feel the highest veneration. But the
views of that man must be truly narrow, who will give up the character
of another, the moment he differs from him in any of his principles. I
am sure Mr. Burke is perfectly sincere in his persuasion. And I hope I
have long since learned not to question the integrity of any man, upon
account of his tenets, whether in religion or politics, be they what
they may. I rejoice however, that this gentleman has connected himself
with a set of men, by the rectitude of whose views, I trust, the ill
tendency of any such involuntary error will be effectually counteracted.
In the mean time this deviation of Mr. Burke from the general principles
of his connexion, has given occasion to some to impute aristocratical
views to the whole party. The best answer to this, is, that the
parliamentary reform was expressly stipulated by lord Rockingham, in his
coalition with the earl of Shelburne, as one of the principles, upon
which the Administration of March, 1782, was formed.
From what has been said, I consider my first proposition as completely
established, that the Rockingham party was the only connexion of men, by
which the country could be well served.
I would however just observe one thing by the way. I forsee that my
first proposition lies open to a superficial and childish kind of
ridicule. But in order to its operation, it is not necessary to say,
that the friends of lord Rockingham were persuaded, that the country
could not be well served, but by themselves. In reality, this is the
proper and philosophical state of it: that each individual of that
connexion was persuaded, that the country could not be well served but
by his friends. And I trust, it has now appeared, that this was a just
and rational persuasion.
The next argument adduced in conformation of my thesis, is, that they
were not by themselves of sufficient strength, to support the weight of
administration. It is certainly a melancholy consideration, that there
should not be virtue enough left in a people to support an
administration of honest views and uniform principles, against all the
cabals of faction. This however, is incontrovertibly the case with
Britain. The bulk of her inhabitants are become, in a very high degree,
inattentive, and indifferent to the conduct of her political affairs.
This has been, at one time, ascribed to their despair of the
commonwealth, and their mortification in perceiving a certain course of
mal-administration persisted in, in defiance of the known sense of the
country. At another time, it has been imputed to their experience of the
hollowness of all our public pretenders to patriotism. I am afraid, the
cause is to be sought in something, more uniform in it's operation, and
less honourable to the lower ranks of society, than either of these. In
a word, luxury and dissipation have every where loosened the bands of
political union. The interest of the public has been forgotten by all
men; and we have been taught to laugh at the principles, by which the
patriots of former ages were induced, to sacrifice their fortunes and
their lives for the welfare of their citizens. Provided the cup of
enjoyment be not dashed from our own lips, and the pillow of sloth torn
away from our own heads, we do not ask, what shall be the fate of our
liberties, our posterity, and our country. Disinterested affection seems
to have taken up her last refuge in a few choice spirits, and elevated
minds, who appear among us, like the inhabitants of another world. In
the mean time, while the lower people have been _careful for none of
these things_, they have been almost constantly decided in the senate,
not by a view to their intrinsic merits, but in conformity to the
jarring interests, and the inexplicable cabals of faction. In such a
situation, alas! what can unprotected virtue do? Destitute of all that
comeliness that allures; stripped of that influence that gives weight
and consideration; and unskilled in the acts of intrigue?
In conformity to these ideas, when the choice of an administration was
once again thrown back upon the people, in March, 1782, we perceive,
that no one party found themselves sufficiently strong for the support
of government; and a coalition became necessary between the Rockingham
connexion, and a person they never cordially approved, the earl of
Shelburne. Even thus supported, and called to the helm, with perhaps as
much popularity, as any administration ever enjoyed, they did not carry
their measure in parliament without difficulty. The inconsiderate and
interested did even think proper to ridicule their imbecility;
particularly in the house of lords. The most unsuspected of all our
patriots, Mr. Burke, was reduced to the necessity of so far contracting
his system of reform upon this account, as to have afforded a handle to
superficial raillery and abuse.
But turn we to the administration that succeeded them; who still
retained some pretensions to public spirit; and among whom there
remained several individuals, whose claim to political integrity was
indisputably. Weaker than the ministry of lord Rockingham, to what
shifts were they not reduced to preserve their precarious power? These
are the men, who have been loudest in their censures of the late
coalition. And yet did not they form coalitions, equally extraordinary
with that which is now under consideration? To omit the noble lord who
presided at the treasury board, and to confine myself to those
instances, which Mr. Fox had occasion to mention in treating my subject.
Was there not the late chancellor of the exchequer, who has been
severest in his censures of lord North, and the lord advocate of
Scotland, who was his principal supporter, and was for pushing the
American measures, even to greater lengths, than the noble patron
himself? Was there not the master general of the ordnance, who has ever
gone farthest in his view of political reform, and declaimed most warmly
against secret influence; and the lord chancellor, the most determined
enemy of reform, and who has been supposed the principal vehicle of that
influence? Lastly, was there not, in the same manner, the secretary of
state for the home department, who was most unwearied in his invectives
against lord Bute; and the right honourable Mr. Jenkinson, who has been
considered by the believers in the invisible power of that nobleman, as
the chief instrument of his designs.
With these examples of the necessity of powerful support and extensive
combination, what mode of conduct was it, that it was most natural, most
virtuous, and most wise, for the Rockingham connexion to adopt? I
confess, I can perceive none more obvious, or more just, than that which
they actually adopted, a junction with the noble commoner in the blue
ribbon. At least, from what has been said, I trust, thus much is evident
beyond control, that they had just reason to consider themselves
abstractedly, as too weak for the support of government.
Still further to strengthen my argument, I affirm, in the third place,
that they were not the men, whose services were likely to be called for
by the Sovereign. I believe, that this proposition will not be thought
to stand in need of any very abstruse train of reasoning to support it.
The late events respecting it have been, instead of a thousand
arguments. From an apprehension, probably, of the uncourtierliness of
their temper, and their inflexible attachment to a system; it seems to
appear by those events, that the sovereign had contracted a sort of
backwardness to admit them into his councils, which it is to be hoped,
was only temporary. It was however such, as, without any other apparent
cause to cooperate with it, alone sufficed to delay the forming an
administration for six weeks, in a most delicate and critical juncture.
Even the union of that noble person, who had been considered as his
majesty's favourite minister, did not appear to be enough to subdue the
averseness. However then we may hope, that untainted virtue and superior
abilities, when more intimately known, may be found calculated to
surmount prejudices and conciliate affection; it seems but too evident,
that in the critical moment, those men, by whom alone we have
endeavoured to prove, that the country could be well served, would not
voluntarily have been thought on.
But it does not seem to have been enough considered, at what time the
coalition was made. The Rockingham connexion, along with thousands of
their fellow citizens, who were unconnected with any party, were
induced, from the purest views, to disapprove of the late treaty of
peace. The voting with the friends of lord North upon that question, was
a matter purely incidental. By that vote however, in which a majority of
the commons house of parliament was included, the administration of lord
Shelburne was dissolved. It was not till after the dissolution was
really effected, that the coalition took place. In this situation
something was necessary to be done. The nation was actually without a
ministry. It was a crisis that did not admit of hesitation and delay.
The country must, if a system of delay had been adopted, have
immediately been thrown back into the hands of those men, from whom it
had been so laboriously forced scarce twelve months before; or it must
have been committed to the conduct of persons even less propitious to
the cause of liberty, and the privileges of the people. A situation,
like this, called for a firm and manly conduct. It was no longer a time
to stoop to the yoke of prejudice. It was a time, to burst forth into
untrodden paths; to lose sight of the hesitating and timid; and
generously to adventure upon a step, that should rather have in view
substantial service, than momentary applause; and should appeal from the
short-sighted decision of systematic prudence, to the tribunal of facts,
and the judgment of posterity.
But why did I talk of the tribunal of facts? Events are not within the
disposition of human power. "'Tis not in mortals to command success."
And the characters of wisdom and virtue, are therefore very properly
considered by all men, who pretend to sober reflection, as independent
of it. If then, as I firmly believe, the coalition was founded in the
wisest and most generous views, the man, that values himself upon his
rational nature, will not wait for the event. He will immediately and
peremptorily decide in its favour. Though it should be annihilated
to-morrow; though it had been originally frustrated in its views,
respecting the continuation of a ministry; he would not hesitate to
pronounce, that it was formed in the most expansive and long-sighted
policy, in the noblest and most prudent daring, in the warmest
generosity, and the truest patriotism.
But it will be said, a coalition of parties may indeed be allowed to be
in many cases proper and wise; but a coalition between parties who have
long treated each other with the extremest rancour, appears a species of
conduct, abhorrent to the unadulterated judgment, and all the native
prepossessions of mankind. It plucks away the very root of unsuspecting
confidence, and can be productive of nothing, but anarchy and confusion.
In answer to this argument, I will not cite the happy effects of the
coalition between parties just as opposite, by which Mr. Pitt was
introduced into office in the close of a former reign. Still less will I
cite the coalition of the earl of Shelburne, with several leaders of the
Bedford connexion, and others, whose principles were at least as
inimical to the popular cause, and the parliamentary reform, as those of
Lord North; and the known readiness of him and his friends to have
formed a junction with the whole of that connexion. I need not even hint
at the probability there exists, that the noble lord then in
administration, would have been happy to have formed the very coalition
himself, which he is willing we should so much reprobate in another. I
need not mention the suspicions, that naturally suggested themselves
upon the invincible silence of his party, respecting the
mal-administration of lord North, for so long a time; and their bringing
forward the singular charge of fifty unaccounted millions at the very
moment that the coalition was completed. I should be sorry to have it
supposed, that the connexion I am defending, ever took an example from
the late premier, for one article of their conduct. And I think the mode
of vindicating them, not from temporary examples, but from eternal
reason, as it is in itself most striking and most honourable, so is it
not a whit less easy and obvious.
Let it be remembered then, in the first place, that there was no other
connexion, sufficiently unquestionable in their sincerity, and of
sufficient weight in the senate, with which to form a coalition. The
Bedford party, had they even been willing to have taken this step in
conjunction with the friends of lord Rockingham, were already stripped
of some of their principal and ablest members, by the arts of lord
Shelburne. Whether these ought to be considered in sound reason, as more
or less obnoxious than lord North, I will not take upon me to determine.
Certain I am, that the Scottish connexion were, of all others, the most
suspicious in themselves, and the most odious to the people. The only
choice then that remained, was that which was made. The only subject for
deliberation, was, whether this choice were more or less laudable than,
on the other hand, the deserting entirely the interests of their
country, and leaving the vessel of the state to the mercy of the winds.
Secondly, I would observe that the principal ground of dispute between
lord North and his present colleagues in administration, was done away
by the termination of the American war. An impeachment of the noble lord
for his past errors was perfectly out of the question. No one was mad
enough to expect it. A vein of public spirit, diffusing itself among all
ranks of society, is the indispensible concomitant of impeachments and
attainder. And such a temper, I apprehend, will not be suspected to be
characteristic of the age in which we live. But were it otherwise, the
Rockingham connexion certainly never stood in the way of an impeachment,
had it been meditated. And, exclusive of this question, I know of no
objection, that applies particular to the noble lord, in
contradistinction to any of the other parties into which we are divided.
But, in the third place, the terms upon which the coalition was made,
form a most important article of consideration in estimating its merits.
They are generally understood to have been these two; that the
Rockingham connexion should at all times have a majority in the cabinet;
and that lord North should be removed to that "hospital of incurables,"
as lord Chesterfield has stiled it, the house of lords. Surely these
articles are the happiest that could have been conceived for preserving
the power of administration, as much as may be, with the friends of the
people. Places, merely of emolument and magnificence, must be bestowed
somewhere. Where then can they be more properly lodged, than in the
hands of those who are best able to support a liberal and virtuous
administration?
I beg leave to add once more, in the fourth place, that, whatever the
demerits of lord North as a minister may be supposed to have been, he is
perhaps, in a thousand other respects, the fittest man in the world to
occupy the second place in a junction of this sort. The union of the
Rockingham connexion with the earl of Shelburne last year, was, I will
admit, less calculated to excite popular astonishment, and popular
disapprobation, than the present. In the eye of cool reason and sober
foresight, I am apt to believe, it was much less wise and commendable.
Lord Shelburne, though he has been able to win over the good opinion of
several, under the notion of his being a friend of liberty, is really,
in many respects, stiffly aristocratical, or highly monarchical. Lord
Shelburne is a man of insatiable ambition, and who pursues the ends of
that ambition by ways the most complex and insidious. The creed of lord
North, whatever it may be, upon general political questions, is
consistent and intelligible. For my own part, I do not believe him to be
ambitious. It is not possible, with his indolent and easy temper, that
he should be very susceptible to so restless a passion. In the heroical
sense of that word, he sits loose to fame. He is undoubtedly desirous,
by all the methods that appear to him honourable and just, to enrich and
elevate his family. He wishes to have it in his power to oblige and to
serve his friends. But I am exceedingly mistaken, if he entered into the
present alliance from views of authority and power. Upon the conditions
I have mentioned, it was a scheme, congenial only to a man of a dark and
plotting temper. But the temper of lord North is in the highest degree
candid, open and undisguised. Easy at home upon every occasion, there is
not a circle in the world to which his presence would not be an
addition. It is calculated to inspire unconstraint and confidence into
every breast. Simple and amiable is the just description of his
character in every domestic relation; constant and unreserved in his
connexions of friendship. The very versatility and pliableness, so
loudly condemned in his former situation, is now an additional
recommendation. Is this the man, for whose intrigues and conspiracies
we are bid to tremble?
Another charge that has been urged against the coalition, is, that it
was a step that dictated to the sovereign, and excluded all, but one
particular set of men, from the national councils. The first part of
this charge is somewhat delicate in its nature. I shall only say
respecting it, that, if, as we have endeavoured to prove, there were but
one connexion, by which the business of administration could be happily
discharged, the friend of liberty, rejoicing in the auspicious event,
will not be very inquisitive in respect to the etiquette, with which
they were introduced into the government. In the mean time, far from
intending an exclusion, they declared publicly, that they would be happy
to receive into their body any man of known integrity and abilities,
from whatever party he came. The declaration has never been
contradicted.--Strangers to the remotest idea of proscription, they
erected a fortress, where every virtue, and every excellence might find
a place.
The only remaining objection to the coalition that I know of, that it
shocks established opinions, is not, I think, in itself, calculated to
have much weight, and has, perhaps, been sufficiently animadverted upon,
as we went along, in what has been already said. The proper question is,
was it a necessary step? Was there any other way, by which the country
could be redeemed? If a satisfactory answer has been furnished to these
enquiries, the inevitable conclusion in my opinion is, that the more it
mocked established opinions, and the more intellectual nerve it
demanded, the more merit did it possess, and the louder applause is its
due.
I am not inclined to believe, that a majority of my countrymen, upon
reflection, have disapproved this measure. I am happy to perceive, that
so much of that good sense and manly thinking in public questions, that
has for ages been considered as the characteristic quality of
Englishmen, is still left among us. There can be nothing more honourable
than this.--By it our commonalty, though unable indeed to forestal the
hero and the man of genius in his schemes, do yet, if I may be allowed
the expression, tread upon his heels, and are prepared to follow him in
all his views, and to glow with all his sentiments.