ey have spoken, or as
_Bolingbroke's captivating eulogium_. Here it is.
"That we shall all be unanimous in expressing our attachment to the
constitution, I am confident. It is, my Lords, incomprehensibly good:
but the great wonder of all is the wisdom; for it is, my lords, _the
wisest system that ever was formed_.
"With respect to us, noble Lords, though the world does not know it, it
is very well known to us, that we have more wisdom than we know what to
do with; and what is still better, my Lords, we have it all in stock. I
defy your Lordships to prove, that a tittle of it has been used yet; and
if we but go on, my Lords, with the frugality we have hitherto done, we
shall leave to our heirs and successors, when we go out of the world,
the whole stock of wisdom, _untouched_, that we brought in; and there is
no doubt but they will follow our example. This, my lords, is one of the
blessed effects of the hereditary system; for we can never be without
wisdom so long as we keep it by us, and do not use it.
"But, my Lords, as all this wisdom is hereditary property, for the sole
benefit of us and our heirs, and it is necessary that the people should
know where to get a supply for their own use, the excellence of our
constitution has provided us a King for this very purpose, and for _no
other_. But, my Lords, I perceive a defect to which the constitution
is subject, and which I propose to remedy by bringing a bill into
Parliament for that purpose.
"The constitution, my Lords, out of delicacy, I presume, has left it as
a matter of _choice_ to a King whether he will be wise or not. It has
not, I mean, my Lords, insisted upon it as a constitutional point,
which, I conceive it ought to have done; for I pledge myself to your
Lordships to prove, and that with _true patriotic boldness_, that he has
_no choice in the matter_. This bill, my Lords, which I shall bring in,
will be to declare, that the constitution, according to the true intent
and meaning thereof, does not invest the King with this choice; our
ancestors were too wise to do that; and, in order to prevent any doubts
that might otherwise arise, I shall prepare, my Lords, an enacting
clause, to fix the wisdom of Kings by act of Parliament; and then, my
Lords our Constitution will be the wonder of the world!
"Wisdom, my lords, is the one thing needful: but that there may be no
mistake in this matter, and that we may proceed consistently with the
true wisdom of the c
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