House." Of course Sir William went on to declare that
he only put this as a supposition, but it was certainly a thing which
might come to pass, and was within the limits of possibility. If it
did come to pass, could not such a minister promise himself more
success in a septennial than he {13} could in a triennial Parliament?
"It is an old maxim," Wyndham said, "that every man has his price."
This allusion to the old maxim is worthy of notice in a debate on the
conduct and character of Walpole. Evidently Wyndham did not fall into
the mistake which posterity appears to have made, and attribute to
Walpole himself the famous words about man and his price. Suppose a
case "which, though it has not happened, may possibly happen. Let us
suppose a man abandoned to all notions of virtue and honor, of no great
family, and of but a mean fortune, raised to be chief Minister of State
by the concurrence of many whimsical events; afraid or unwilling to
trust to any but creatures of his own making, and most of these equally
abandoned to all notions of virtue or honor; ignorant of the true
interest of his country, and consulting nothing but that of enriching
and aggrandizing himself and his favorites." Sir William described
this supposititious personage as employing in foreign affairs none but
men whose education made it impossible for them to have such
qualifications as could be of any service to their country or give any
credit to their negotiations. Under the rule of this minister the
orator described "the true interests of the nation neglected, her honor
and credit lost, her trade insulted, her merchants plundered, and her
sailors murdered, and all these things overlooked for fear only his
administration should be endangered. Suppose this man possessed of
great wealth, the plunder of the nation, with a Parliament of his own
choosing, most of their seats purchased, and their votes bought at the
expense of the public treasure. In such a Parliament let us suppose
attempts made to inquire into his conduct or to relieve the nation from
the distress he has brought upon it." Would it not be easy to suppose
all such attempts discomfited by a corrupt majority of the creatures
whom this minister "retains in daily pay or engages in his particular
interest by granting them those posts and places which never ought to
be given to any but for the good of the public?" Sir William pictured
this minister {14} pluming himself upon "his scandal