Townshend had laughed at the weakness of the Rockingham ministry, but his own tessellated' ministry was the first since the Revolution to endure the disgrace of being defeated on a Money Bill. Dowdeswell, his predecessor in the Exchequer, moved an amendment to the four-shilling Land Tax, and defeated him by 206 to 118. Rock. Mem., vol. ii. p. 34. It was the loss on the Land Tax of a shilling in the pound that his American taxes were intended partly to supply. Walpole, iii. 28.

1. 29. to counterwork. Properly a military term, meaning to raise works in opposition to those of the enemy. Pope, Ess. on Man, ii. 239: 'That counterworks each folly and caprice.'

1. 34. usual fate of all exquisite policy. parent of confusion,' p. 166.

'Refined policy has ever been the

Such

P. 150, l. 12. a race of men, &c. The class known in Parliamentary slang as outsiders,' 'loose fish,' &c. Or, by the transfer of an epithet formerly appropriated to electors, 'independent' members. An independent' member has been described as one who can never be depended on. men have naturally ever been unpopular with the organizers of parties. 1. 21. the Hear-hims. The 'Hear him, hear him' of applauding auditors has now become, by ecthlipsis, 'Hear, hear.'

1. 22. to whom they fell-i.e. the speakers.

1. 26. A single whiff of incense withheld. Pope, Character of Wharton: 'Tho' wondering senates hung on all he spoke,

The club must hail him master of the joke.'

P. 151, l. 15. on a former occasion. In moving his eight resolutions relating to the disorders in North America, May 8, 1770.

1. 18. After all these changes and agitations. The remarks of Professor Goodrich (see note to p. 115) might be repeated here. The speech is here summed up with great force and perspicuity. The peroration, 'If you do not fall in, &c.' which immediately follows, continues this style, in arguments of a more general character. Of these arguments Mr. Hazlitt says, they are 'so sensible, so moderate, so wise and beautiful, that I cannot resist the temptation of copying them out, though I did not at first intend it.' Eloq. of the British Senate, vol. ii. p. 293. This peroration is a brilliant specimen of direct appeal. It unites, like the Theseus, the grace of the Apollo with the strength of the Hercules. Vehemently as the power is exerted, it is done so easily and temperately, as to suggest an infinite fund in store. The words are eloquent, but the eloquence appears to reside not in them, but in the subject.

P. 152, 1. 22. reason not at all. Burke may have had in mind the impressive phrase of the Gospel, 'Swear not at all.'

1. 26. On this solid basis. Alluding to the dòs Tоû σTŵ of Archimedes, to which Burke often appears to have had recourse as an illustration in his parliamentary speeches. It must have been after some such passage as this that Lord John Townshend exclaimed aloud, Heavens! what a man this is. Where could he acquire such transcendent powers?

Gr. ἀκριβοδίκαιον.

The origin of the
That over-perfect

P. 153, 1. 8. summum jus. maxim Summum jus summa injuria is lost in antiquity. kind of justice which has obtained, by its merits, the title of the opposite vice.' Speech on Econ. Reform. Cp. Aristotle, Ethics, lib. v. Macaulay compares the Stamp Act with Acts of Attainder and Confiscation. Parliament was legally competent to tax America, as Parliament was legally competent to confiscate the property of all the merchants in Lombard Street, or to attaint any man of high treason, without examining witnesses against him, or hearing him in his own defence.' There is no worse torture than the torture of laws.' Bacon, Essay of Judicature.

1. 23. destroying angel. 1 Chron. xxi. 12. Cp. vol. ii. p. 56. The hand that like a destroying angel,' &c.

This final appeal is said to have

1. 33. Let us, Sir, embrace some system. fallen with immense weight on the audience. Burke not only knew that on a prepared audience the blow must be redoubled to produce a corresponding effect, but, as this paragraph proves, he was able to do it at will.

P. 154, 1. 9. Seek peace and ensue it. A favourite quotation of Burke's. Ps. xxxiv. 14.

1. 13. metaphysical distinctions; I hate the very sound of them. Burke, says Bentham, had good cause to hate metaphysics; The power he trusted to was oratory, rhetoric, the art of misrepresentation, the art of misdirecting the judgment by agitating and inflaming the passions,' Works, x. 510. Others have accused him of metaphysical subtleties. Thus was this great man,' says Hazlitt, merely for disclaiming metaphysical distinctions, and shewing their inapplicability to practical questions, considered as an unintelligible reasoner; as if you were chargeable with the very folly of which you convict others. Burke understood metaphysics, and saw their true boundaries. When he saw others venturing blindly on this treacherous ground, and called out to them to stop, shewing them where they were, they said, "This man is a metaphysician!" General, unqualified assertions, universal axioms, and abstract rules, serve to embody our prejudices. They are the watch-words of party, the strong-holds of the passions. It is therefore dangerous to meddle with them! Solid reason means nothing more than being carried away by our passions, and solid sense is that which requires no reflection to understand it !' Eloq. of Brit. Senate, vol. ii. p. 297.

1. 22. not used to do so from the beginning. St. Matt. xix. 8.

P. 155, l. 1. Nobody will be argued into slavery. Which government the English have best preserv'd, being a Nation too tenacious of their Libertys to be complemented out of 'em,' &c. Tindal, Essay Concerning Obedience, ch. 2. Burke's happy expression reminds us of the equally happy phrase of Sherlock, 'Never a man was reasoned out of his religion.' 1. 3. what one character of liberty. In the primary signification of a mark, a stamp' (Johnson).

1. 14. a noble Lord, who spoke. 1. 18. the Americans are our VOL. I.

Lord Carmarthen.

children, &c. An old commonplace of

Y

despotic theorists. Notice the gentle irony with which Burke receives its utterance by a young speaker.

1. 24. children ask for bread.. not to give a stone. St. Matt. vii. 9. 1. 31. beauteous countenance of British liberty, &c. Apparently an allusion to Exodus xxxiii. 18-23.

P. 156, 1. 25. her extensive Empire. Burke begins by personifying Great Britain in the feminine gender, which is common enough; but he goes on to do the same with Parliament, which seems a little ludicrous.

1. 29. What I call her imperial character. Cp. Speech on Conciliation, p. 223.

P. 157, 1. 18. stress of the draft. The image is from draught-horses.

1. 21. backwardness. . of Pennsylvania. . internal dissensions in the Colony. Domestic faction impeded measures of defence,' Bancroft, iv. 224-253. P. 158, 1. 13. Sir William Temple says, that Holland, &c. Thus this stomachful People, who could not endure the least exercise of Arbitrary Power or Impositions, or the sight of any Foreign Troops under the Spanish Government; have been since inured to all of them in the highest degree, under their own popular magistrates: Bridled with hard Laws; Terrified with severe executions; Environed with Foreign Forces; and opprest with the most cruel Hardship and Variety of Taxes, that ever was known under any Government.' Obs. upon the United Provinces, ch. ii. Cette nation aimerait prodigieusement sa liberté, parce que cette liberté serait vraie; et il pouvrait arriver que, pour la défendre, elle sacrifierait son bien, son aisance, ses intérêts: et qu'elle se chargerait des impôts les plus durs, et tels que le prince le plus absolu n'oserait les faire supporter à ses sujets.' De l'Esp. des Lois, xix. 27. Règle générale: on peut lever des tributs plus forts, à proportion de la liberté des sujets; et l'on est forcé de les modérer à mesure que la servitude augmente.' Id. xii. 12.

·

1. 16. Tyranny... knows neither how to accumulate nor how to extract. 'Quand les sauvages de la Louisiane veulent avoir du fruit, ils coupent l'arbre au pied, et cueillent le fruit. Voilà le gouvernement despotique.' Id. v. 13. Cp. infra, p. 204.

1. 21. morally certain. Johnson, 'popularly, according to the common occurrences of life, according to the common judgment made of things.' The term is a relic of the Schoolmen, who allowed three degrees of certainty-mathematical, metaphysical, and moral.

P. 159, 1. 3. not partial good, but universal evil. Pope, Essay on Man, i. 292. 1. 20. The noble Lord will as usual.

1. 31. friend under me on the floor.

Lord North.
Mr. Dowdeswell.

SPEECH ON CONCILIATION WITH AMERICA.

P. 161, l. I. I hope, Sir, &c. See p. 277, l. I. The personality of the address to the Speaker is more marked than is now usual. Cp. p. 169, 1. 20.

1. 6. grand penal Bill, by which we had passed sentence. The Act to restrain the Commerce of the Provinces of Massachuset's Bay and New Hampshire, and Colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation, in North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Islands in the West Indies; and to prohibit such Provinces and Colonies from carrying on any Fishery on the Banks of Newfoundland, and other places therein mentioned, under certain conditions and limitations. (Original ed.)

1. 18. incongruous mixture of coercion and restraint. The coercion consisted in breaking the resistance to the Tea-duty; the restraint in prohibiting the New Englanders from the Newfoundland fisheries. The incongruity lay in the form, not in the spirit or method of these attempts.

1. 32. I was obliged to take more than common pains. Burke however had long before this taken more than common pains to instruct himself in the affairs of the Colonies. See note to p. 133, 1. 3, ante.

P. 163, l. 5. blown about by every wind of fashionable doctrine. St. Paul to Eph. iv. 14. Cp. Reynolds, Discourse xii, at the mercy of every gust of fashion.' Burke elsewhere speaks of 'hebdomadal politicians.' Cp.

p. 185, Some rule which may give a little stability to our politicks.'

1. 9. in perfect concurrence. The numbers on the division were 275 and 161. 1. 34. worthy Member. Mr. Rose Fuller.

P. 164, l. 20. a platforma ground-plan.

1. 27. gave so far into his opinion-i. e. assented to. So European Settlements in America, vol. i. p. 32: This (the natural slavery of barbarians) was so general a notion, that Aristotle himself, with all his penetration, gave into it very seriously.'

1. 32. hazard Plans of Government, &c. Cp. note to p. 2, l. 11. 'We live in a nation where, at present, there is scarce a single head that does not teem with politics. The whole island is peopled with statesmen, and not unlike Trinculo's Kingdom of Viceroys. Every man has contrived a scheme of government for the benefit of his fellow subjects.' Whig Examiner, No. 5. 1. 34. disreputably. In the limited sense of with prejudice to the reputation of those who make them."

P. 185, 1. 3. ambitious of ridicule-candidate for disgrace. Young, Night Thoughts: 'O thou, ambitious of disgrace alone!'

1. 5. Paper government. Burke possibly had in mind the original settlement of Carolina, with its 'model of a constitution framed, and body of fundamental laws compiled by the famous philosopher, Mr. Locke.' (European Settlements in America, vol. ii. p. 237.) This absurd specimen of modern feudalism settled the lands in large and inalienable fiefs on three classes of nobility: barons, cassiques (earls), and landgraves (dukes), and was tolerated for two generations. Shaftesbury had a hand in it. Burke's resolutions would in effect have established a new charter for all the Colonies.

1. 8. prevailed every day more and more. the sentence. Cp. Ps. lxxiv. 24.

Note the Scriptural cast of

1. 12. Public calamity, &c. Cp. ante, p. 2, 1. 8.

1. 18. ennoble the flights, &c. Anywhere but in Burke, such an antithesis would appear trifling.

1. 31. dazzle or delude. These two ideas were generally connected by Burke. Cp. p. 121, 1. 24. So elsewhere he speaks of the dazzling and delusive wealth' of the Spanish and Portuguese Colonies (their gold, silver, and precious stones).

1. 34. The proposition is Peace. 'What a pompous description is here! Mulier formosa superne Desinit in piscem. For after all, what is this Heaven-born pacific Scheme, of which we have heard so laboured an Enconium? Why truly; if we will grant the Colonies all that they shall require, and stipulate for nothing in Return; then they will be at Peace with us. I believe it; and on these simple Principles of simple Peace-making, I will engage to terminate every difference throughout the world.' Tucker,

Letter, p. 44.

P. 186, l. 5. precise marking the shadowy boundaries, &c. Another allusion from the passage in the Essay on Man (see p. 255):

'Tho' each by turns the other's bound invade,

These are

As in some well-wrought picture, light and shade.'—ii. 207. 1. 10. former unsuspecting confidence of the Colonies, &c. the words of the Congress at Philadelphia in 1774. Letter to Sheriffs of Bristol, 1777: Man is a creature of habit; and the first breach being of very short duration, the Colonies fell back exactly into their ancient state. The Congress has used an expression with regard to this pacification, which appears to me truly significant. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, "the Colonies fell," says this Assembly, "into their ancient state of unsuspecting confidence in the mother country.' This unsuspecting confidence is the true center of gravity amongst mankind, about which all the parts are at rest. It is this unsuspecting confidence that removes all difficulties, and reconciles all the contradictions, which occur in the complexity of all ancient, puzzled, political establishments. Happy are the rulers which have the secret of preserving it!' &c. Cp. with this passage, vol. ii. p. 260, on the tampering of the Assembly with the army: 'They have touched the central point, about which the particles that compose armies are at repose.'

1. 21. Genuine simplicity of heart is an healing, &c. Truth in its nature is healing, and productive of reflection.' Glover's Speech at the Bar, March 16, 1775.

That when the Governor,

1. 27. Project lately laid upon your table, &c. Council, or Assembly, or General Court, of any of his Majesty's Provinces or Colonies in America, shall propose to make provision, according to the condition, circumstances, and situation, of such Province or Colony, for contributing their proportion to the Common Defence (such proportion to be raised under the Authority of the General Court, or General Assembly, of such