are to be
considered as proofs of a prosperous and nourishing nation.

Will it be alleged, my lords, has this man one friend adventurous enough
to assert, in open day, that the people are not starving by thousands,
and murmuring by millions, that universal misery does not overspread the
nation, and that this horrid series of calamities is not universally,
among all conditions, imputed to the conduct of this man?

That great evils are felt, my lords, no Briton, I am certain, who
converses promiscuously with his countrymen, will attempt to dispute,
and until some other cause more proportioned to the effect shall be
assigned, I shall join the publick in their opinion, and while I think
this man the author of our miseries, shall conclude it necessary to
comply with the motion.

Lord HARDWICK spoke next, to the following effect:--My lords, though I
very readily admit that crimes ought to be punished, that a treacherous
administration of publick affairs is, in a very high degree, criminal,
that even ignorance, where it is the consequence of neglect, deserves
the severest animadversion, and that it is the privilege and duty of
this house to watch over the state of the nation, and inform his majesty
of any errours committed by his ministers; yet I am far from being
convinced either of the justice or necessity of the motion now under
consideration.

The most flagrant and invidious part of the charge against the right
honourable gentleman appears to consist in this, that he has engrossed
an exorbitant degree of power, and usurped an unlimited influence over
the whole system of government, that he disposes of all honours and
preferments, and that he is not only _first_ but _sole_ minister.

But of this boundless usurpation, my lords, what proof has been laid
before you? What beyond loud exaggerations, pompous rhetorick, and
specious appeals to common fame; common fame, which, at least, may
sometimes err, and which, though it may afford sufficient ground for
suspicion and inquiry, was never yet admitted as conclusive evidence,
where the immediate necessities of the publick did not preclude the
common forms of examination, where the power of the offender did not
make it dangerous to attack him by a legal prosecution, or where the
conduct of the accusers did not plainly discover that they were more
eager of blood than of justice, and more solicitous to destroy than to
convict.

I hope none of these circumstances, my lords, ca