warrior was recompensed, the
member of parliament was left free. You will likewise find a pension
of L1,500 a year to Lord Camden. I recommended his lordship to be
chancellor; his public and private virtues were acknowledged by all;
they made his station more precarious. I could not reasonably expect
from him that he would quit the chief-justiceship of the common pleas,
which he held for life, and put himself in the power of those who were
not to be trusted, to be dismissed from the chancery perhaps the day
after his appointment. The public has not been deceived by his conduct.
My suspicions have been justified. His integrity has made him once more
a poor and private man; he was dismissed for the opinion he gave in
favour of the right of election in the people." Here the noble orator
was interrupted by loud cries of "To the bar, to the bar," and Lord
Marchmont moved that his words should be taken down. Chatham himself
seconded this motion: "My words," he thundered forth in an indignant
tone, "My words remain unretracted, unexplained, and reaffirmed. I
desire to know whether I am condemned or acquitted, and whether I may
still presume to hold up my head as high as the noble lord who moved to
have my words taken down." Chatham paused for a reply, and none being
given, he continued, "I will trust no sovereign in the world with the
means of purchasing the liberties of the people. When I had the honour
of being the confidential keeper of the king's intention, he assured
me that he never intended to exceed the allowance which was made by
parliament, and therefore, my lords, at a time when there are no marks
of personal dissipation in the king--at a time when there are no marks
of any considerable sums having been expended to procure the secrets of
our enemies--that a request of an inquiry into the expenditure of the
civil list should be refused, is to me most extraordinary. Does the King
of England want to build a palace equal to his rank and dignity? Does he
want to encourage the polite and useful arts? Does he mean to reward
the hardy veteran who has defended his quarrel in many a rough campaign,
whose salary does not equal that of some of your servants? Or does he
mean, by drawing the purse-strings of his subjects, to spread corruption
through the people, to procure a parliament, like a packed jury, ready
to acquit his ministers at all adventures? I do not say, my lords,
that corruption lies here, or that corruption lies the