d of secret
influence_.

Such, my lord, was one of your immediate ancestors, whose name, to this
day, every honest Briton repeats with veneration. I will turn to another
person, still more nearly related to you, and who will make an equal
figure in the history of the age in which he lived, Mr. George
Grenville. His character has been represented to us by a writer of no
mean discernment, as that of "shrewd and inflexible." He was a man of
indefatigable industry and application. He possessed a sound
understanding, and he trusted it. This is a respectable description.
Integrity and independency, however mistaken, are entitled to praise.
What was it, my lord, that he considered as the ruin of his reputation?
What was it, that defeated all the views of an honest ambition, and
deprived his country of the services, which his abilities, under proper
direction, were qualified to render it? My lord, it was _secret
influence_. It was in vain for ministers to be able to construct their
plans with the highest wisdom, and the most unwearied diligence; it was
in vain that they came forward like men, and risqued their places, their
characters, their all, upon measures, however arduous, that they thought
necessary for the salvation of their country. They were defeated, by
what, my lord? By abilities greater than their own? By a penetration
that discovered blots in their wisest measures? By an opposition bold
and adventurous as themselves? No: but, by the _lords of the
bedchamber_; by a "band of Janissaries who surrounded the person of the
prince, and were ready to strangle the minister upon the nod of a
moment."

With these illustrious examples ever rushing upon your memory, no man
can doubt that your lordship has inherited that detestation of
_influence_ by which your ancestors were so honourably distinguished. My
lord, having considered the high expectations, which the virtues of your
immediate progenitors had taught us to form upon the heir of them both,
we will recollect for a moment the promises that your first outset in
life had made to your country.

One of your lordship's first actions upon record, consists in the high
professions you made at the county meeting of Buckingham, in that
ever-venerable aera of oeconomy and reform, the spring of 1780. My lord,
there are certain offices of sinecure, not dependent upon the caprice of
a minister, which this country has reserved to reward those illustrious
statesmen, who have spent t