justice, he will heartily embrace him as his friend.' So readily does he reconcile extremes, and love the man whom he wishes to prosecute! With the same spirit, Sir, I suppose he will cherish this peace too because he abhors it. But I will not hesitate to surmise, from the obvious complexion of this night's debate, that it originates rather in an inclination to force the Earl of Shelburne from the Treasury, than in any real conviction that Ministers deserve censure for the concessions they have made: concessions which, from the facts I have enumerated and the reasoning I have stated as arising from these facts, are the obvious result of an absolute necessity, and imputable, not so much to those of whom the present Cabinet is composed, as to that Cabinet of which the noble Lord in the blue ribbon was a member. This noble Earl, like every other person eminent for ability, and acting in the first department of a great State, is undoubtedly an object of envy to some, as well as of admiration to others. The obloquy to which his capacity and situation have raised him has been created and circulated with equal meanness and address: but his merits are as much above my panegyric, as the arts, to which he owes his defamation, are beneath my attention. When stripped of his power and emoluments, he once more descends to private life without the invidious appendages of place; men will see him through a different medium, and perceive in him qualities which richly entitle him to their esteem. That official superiority which at present irritates their feelings, and that capacity of conferring good offices on those he prefers, which all men are fond of possessing, will not then be any obstacle to their making an impartial estimate of his character. But notwithstanding a sincere predilection for this nobleman, whom I am bound by every tie to treat with sentiments of deference and regard, I am far from wishing him retained in power against the public approbation; and if his removal can be innocently effected, if he can be compelled to resign without entailing all those mischiefs which seem to be involved in the resolution now moved, great as his
