ts upon which this claim was founded and combated, are not my
business here. Never has a subject been more amply and more learnedly
handled, nor upon one side, in my opinion, more satisfactorily; they who
are not convinced by what is already written would not receive conviction
_though one arose from the dead_.

I too have thought on this subject; but my purpose here, is only to
consider it as a part of the favourite project of Government; to observe
on the motives which led to it; and to trace its political consequences.

A violent rage for the punishment of Mr. Wilkes was the pretence of the
whole. This gentleman, by setting himself strongly in opposition to the
Court Cabal, had become at once an object of their persecution, and of
the popular favour. The hatred of the Court party pursuing, and the
countenance of the people protecting him, it very soon became not at all
a question on the man, but a trial of strength between the two parties.
The advantage of the victory in this particular contest was the present,
but not the only, nor by any means, the principal, object. Its operation
upon the character of the House of Commons was the great point in view.
The point to be gained by the Cabal was this: that a precedent should be
established, tending to show, _That the favour of the people was not so
sure a road as the favour of the Court even to popular honours and
popular trusts_. A strenuous resistance to every appearance of lawless
power; a spirit of independence carried to some degree of enthusiasm; an
inquisitive character to discover, and a bold one to display, every
corruption and every error of Government; these are the qualities which
recommend a man to a seat in the House of Commons, in open and merely
popular elections. An indolent and submissive disposition; a disposition
to think charitably of all the actions of men in power, and to live in a
mutual intercourse of favours with them; an inclination rather to
countenance a strong use of authority, than to bear any sort of
licentiousness on the part of the people; these are unfavourable
qualities in an open election for Members of Parliament.

The instinct which carries the people towards the choice of the former,
is justified by reason; because a man of such a character, even in its
exorbitancies, does not directly contradict the purposes of a trust, the
end of which is a control on power. The latter character, even when it
is not in its extreme, will