a coalition. The
Bedford party, had they even been willing to have taken this step in
conjunction with the friends of lord Rockingham, were already stripped
of some of their principal and ablest members, by the arts of lord
Shelburne. Whether these ought to be considered in sound reason, as more
or less obnoxious than lord North, I will not take upon me to determine.
Certain I am, that the Scottish connexion were, of all others, the most
suspicious in themselves, and the most odious to the people. The only
choice then that remained, was that which was made. The only subject for
deliberation, was, whether this choice were more or less laudable than,
on the other hand, the deserting entirely the interests of their
country, and leaving the vessel of the state to the mercy of the winds.

Secondly, I would observe that the principal ground of dispute between
lord North and his present colleagues in administration, was done away
by the termination of the American war. An impeachment of the noble lord
for his past errors was perfectly out of the question. No one was mad
enough to expect it. A vein of public spirit, diffusing itself among all
ranks of society, is the indispensible concomitant of impeachments and
attainder. And such a temper, I apprehend, will not be suspected to be
characteristic of the age in which we live. But were it otherwise, the
Rockingham connexion certainly never stood in the way of an impeachment,
had it been meditated. And, exclusive of this question, I know of no
objection, that applies particular to the noble lord, in
contradistinction to any of the other parties into which we are divided.

But, in the third place, the terms upon which the coalition was made,
form a most important article of consideration in estimating its merits.
They are generally understood to have been these two; that the
Rockingham connexion should at all times have a majority in the cabinet;
and that lord North should be removed to that "hospital of incurables,"
as lord Chesterfield has stiled it, the house of lords. Surely these
articles are the happiest that could have been conceived for preserving
the power of administration, as much as may be, with the friends of the
people. Places, merely of emolument and magnificence, must be bestowed
somewhere. Where then can they be more properly lodged, than in the
hands of those who are best able to support a liberal and virtuous
administration?

I beg leave to add once more, in th