the only parent of personal liberty
and political right. And you owe all these, gentlemen, to the
throne.

There is another powerful and most beneficial influence which is
also exercised by the crown. Gentlemen, I am a party man. I believe
that, without party, parliamentary government is impossible. I look
upon parliamentary government as the noblest government in the
world, and certainly the one most suited to England. But without the
discipline of political connection, animated by the principle of
private honor, I feel certain that a popular assembly would sink
before the power or the corruption of a minister. Yet, gentlemen, I
am not blind to the faults of party government. It has one great
defect. Party has a tendency to warp the intelligence, and there is
no minister, however resolved he may be in treating a great public
question, who does not find some difficulty in emancipating himself
from the traditionary prejudice on which he has long acted. It is,
therefore, a great merit in our constitution, that before a minister
introduces a measure to Parliament, he must submit it to an
intelligence superior to all party, and entirely free from
influences of that character.

I know it will be said, gentlemen, that, however beautiful in
theory, the personal influence of the sovereign is now absorbed in
the responsibility of the minister. Gentlemen, I think you will
find there is great fallacy in this view. The principles of the
English constitution do not contemplate the absence of personal
influence on the part of the sovereign; and if they did, the
principles of human nature would prevent the fulfillment of such a
theory. Gentlemen, I need not tell you that I am now making on this
subject abstract observations of general application to our
institutions and our history. But take the case of a sovereign of
England, who accedes to his throne at the earliest age the law
permits, and who enjoys a long reign,--take an instance like that
of George III. From the earliest moment of his accession that
sovereign is placed in constant communication with the most able
statesmen of the period, and of all parties. Even with average
ability it is impossible not to perceive that such a sovereign must
soon attain a great mass of political information and political
experience. Information and experience, gentlemen, whether they are
possessed by a sovereign or by the humblest of his subjects, are
irresistible in life.