curity at his side--he has the purse, which commands all the baser
portion of our nature with such irresistible control! On one point I
fully agree with the right honourable gentleman--that nothing but the
purse could ever keep them faithful. Yet, is there nothing but gold
that can bribe? is there no bribe in territory? will he not find, when
he hurries to the purchase of allies with the millions of the treasury
in his hand, that more powerful purchasers have been there before him?
When he offers the loan, will he not find them offering the province?
when he bids with the subsidy, will he not be outbid with the kingdom?
Or, if the anticipated conquerors of Europe, raising their sense of
dignity to the level of their power, should disdain the traffic of
corruption; will not the roaring of the French cannon in the ears of
kings make them feel, that, to persist in your ill-omened alliance,
is to devote themselves to ruin? will they bargain, in sight of the
axe? will they dare to traffic in the blood of their people, with the
grave dug at their feet? will they be dazzled by your gold, while the
French bayonet is startling their eyes? Within ten years, if England
exists, she will be without an ally; or, if she continues to fight, it
will be in loneliness, in terror, and in despair."

In this strain he poured out his daring conceptions for more than two
hours, during which he kept the whole audience in the deepest
attention. He concluded in an uproar of plaudits from both sides of
the House.

My time now came. And the rising of a new member, always regarded with
a generous spirit of courtesy, produced some additional interest, from
the knowledge of my services on the Continent, and my immediate
connexion with the ministry. The House, which had filled to
overflowing in the course of Sheridan's incomparable speech, was now
hushed to the most total silence, and every eye was turned on me. I
shall say nothing of my perturbation, further than that I had stood
before an enemy's line of ten thousand men, with their muskets
levelled within half a hundred yards of me; and that I thought the
benches of the House of Commons on that night looked much the more
formidable of the two. My head swam, my throat burned, my eyes grew
dim. I thought that the ground was shaking under my feet, and I could
have almost rejoiced to have sunk into it, from the gaze and the
silence, which equally appalled me. While I attempted to mutter a few
sentence