Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth CenturyJoy, James Richard
History
Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth Century
Joy, James Richard
England -- Biography
Well, now, the right honorable gentleman has turned round on us,
and in a peroration, the elaborate character of which remarkably
contrasted with the garrulous confidence of all the doings of his
cabinet, the right honorable gentleman told us that he had been
assured that a certain power had made him minister, and that a
certain power would prevent him from being a minister; but that
he protested against such an authority, and that he never would
hold office by so servile a tenure. Sir, no one can fill a
position such as that of the right honorable gentleman and give
utterance to sentiments so magnanimous as his without reference
to antecedents. And that leads us to the consideration of that
government by parties, which must never be lost sight of in
estimating the position of the right honorable gentleman. It is
all very well for the right honorable gentleman to say, "I am the
First Minister"--and by the by, I think the right honorable
gentleman might as well adopt the phraseology of Walpole, and
call himself the sole minister, for his speech was rich in
egoistic rhetoric--it is all very well for him to speak of
himself as the sole minister, for as all his cabinet voted
against him, he is quite right not to notice them. I repeat, it
is all very well for the right honorable gentleman to come
forward to this table and say, "I am thinking of posterity,
although certainly I am doing on this side of the table the
contrary to that which I counseled when I stood upon the other;
but my sentiments are magnanimous, my aim is heroic, and
appealing to posterity, I care neither for your cheers nor your
taunts."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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