cries of hear! hear!) I profess myself, Sir, an
honest and upright member of the British Parliament,
and I am not afraid to profess myself an enemy to
all change, and all innovation. I am satisfied
with things as they are; and it will be my pride and
pleasure to hand down this country to my children
as I received it from those who preceded me.
The Honourable Gentleman pretends to justify the severity
with which he has attacked the Noble Lord who presides
in the Court of Chancery, But I say such attacks are
pregnant with mischief to Government itself. Oppose
Ministers, you oppose Government; disgrace Ministers,
you disgrace Government; bring Ministers into contempt,
you bring Government into contempt; and anarchy and
civil war are the consequences. Besides, Sir,
the measure is unnecessary. Nobody complains
of disorder in that shape in which it is the aim of
your measure to propose a remedy to it. The business
is one of the greatest importance; there is need of
the greatest caution and circumspection. Do not
let us be precipitate, Sir; it is impossible to foresee
all consequences. Every thing should be gradual;
the example of a neighbouring nation should fill us
with alarm! The honourable gentleman has taxed
me with illiberality. Sir, I deny the charge.
I hate innovation, but I love improvement. I
am an enemy to the corruption of Government, but I
defend its influence. I dread reform, but I dread
it only when it is intemperate. I consider the
liberty of the press as the great Palladium of the
Constitution; but, at the same time, I hold the licentiousness
of the press in the greatest abhorrence. Nobody
is more conscious than I am of the splendid abilities
of the Honourable Mover, but I tell him at once, his
scheme is too good to be practicable. It savours
of Utopia. It looks well in theory, but it won’t
do in practice. It will not do, I repeat, Sir,
in practice; and so the advocates of the measure will
find, if, unfortunately, it should find its way through
Parliament. (Cheers.) The source of that corruption
to which the Honourable Member alludes, is in the minds
of the people; so rank and extensive is that corruption,
that no political reform can have any effect in removing
it. Instead of reforming others—instead
of reforming the State, the Constitution, and every
thing that is most excellent, let each man reform
himself! let him look at home, he will find there
enough to do, without looking abroad, and aiming at
what is out of his power. (Loud Cheers).
And now, Sir, as it is frequently the custom in this
House to end with a quotation, and as the gentleman
who preceded me in the debate has anticipated me in
my favourite quotation of the ’Strong pull and
long pull,’ I shall end with the memorable words
of the assembled barons—Nolumus leges
Angliae mutari’”—Review
of Bentham’s “Book of Fallacies”
in the Collected Works.