initiation of the King, whose will is to extend beyond his life, and to be implicitly obeyed by the Public. Even the Regent is at present unknown, and consequently unapproved of. The ten great officers of State will be such as shall be in office at the demise. The present Ministers before that period may be removed, and those ten may possibly be the most obnoxious in the kingdom, and though perhaps the proper instruments of a wise and ruling monarch, may yet be in their own persons contemptible both in respect to their morals and understanding. The administration of government requires subserviency of man to man and not a rivalship or emulation of abilities, and therefore it is seldom that above one genius is included in the group and even that one perhaps may be seated upon the Throne; and if that be the case the nation, during a minority, may be governed by the most incapable men in it, to the exclusion of those of the first rank, fortune, merit, talents, and abilities.
"To these are to be added four more, and consequently neither of the Royal Family nor possessing any of the great offices of State, men perhaps who will be as much hated then as they are at present unknown.[1] To reply to these things the great wisdom of the King will be possibly urged as an unanswerable argument. It is however unparliamentary to do so; it is the language of slaves and not of freemen. The wisdom of the King may be a private inducement, but it ought never to be a public argument; when the good of the State is in question all men are to be supposed fallible. Principles and systems of policy as wrong or right, are alone to be considered, and the casual abilities of men should be left out of the question. Yet even this consideration will lose its force when it is remembered that the appointment of a Regent and Council will probably be the last act of His Majesty's life, when sickness and infirmity may disturb his understanding and management, and intrigue may prevail. But it were well if a bad administration for a short period were the only
- ↑ The Regency Bill was intended to provide for the possible demise of the King while the heir to the throne was still a minor. The fear of the influence of Lord Bute and the Princess Dowager of Wales embittered the debates.
