only a few fragments of his
speech are extant, and scarcely any one of those in existence convey any
notion of the fascination which, it is said, that his oratory exercised
over those who heard him. One of the most beautiful portions of his
speech related to the correspondence of the governor and his agent. It
reads thus:--"When I see in many of these letters the infirmities of age
made a subject of mockery and ridicule; when I see the feelings of a
son treated by Mr. Middleton as puerile and contemptible; when I see an
order given from Mr. Hastings to harden that son's heart, and to choke
the struggles of nature in his bosom; when I see them pointing to the
son's name and to his standard, while marching to oppress the mother, as
to a banner that gives dignity--that gives a holy sanction and reverence
to their enterprise; when I see and hear these things done; when I hear
them brought into three deliberate defences set up against the charges
of the commons, my lords, I own I grow puzzled and confounded, and
almost begin to doubt whether, where such a defence can be offered, it
may not be tolerated. And yet, my lords, how can I support the claim of
filial love by argument? much less the affections of a son to a mother,
where love loses its awe, and veneration is mixed with tenderness. What
can I say on such a subject? What can I do but repeat the ready truths
which, with the quick impulse of the mind, must spring to the lips
of every man on such a theme? Filial love! the moral of instinct, the
sacrament of nature and duty, or rather let me say, it is miscalled a
duty, for it flows from the heart without effort, and is its delight,
its indulgence, its enjoyment. It is guided, not by the slow dictates of
reason; it awaits not encouragement from reflection or from thought;
it asks no aid of memory; it is an innate, but active consciousness
of having been the object of a thousand tender solicitudes, a thousand
waking, watchful cares of meek anxiety and patient sacrifices,
unremarked and unrequited by the object; it is a gratitude founded on a
conviction of obligations, not remembered, but more binding because
not remembered--because conferred before the tender reason could
acknowledge, or the infant memory record them; a gratitude and affection
which no circumstances should subdue, and which few can strengthen; a
gratitude in which injury from the object, though it may blend regret,
should never breed resentment; an affection