( 77 )
It is meant to ſpeak with reſpect of Oppoſion that is, of Oppoſition in the abſtract, without reference to any individual perſon, or combination of perſons. An author who wrote the tract here alluded to, under the eye of that great miniſter, whoſe firſt exertions, after his acceſſion to political power, it was meant to record and illuſtrate,, has defined Oppoſition in the following impartial and honorable terms; and it is to the credit of that illuſtrious ſtatefman's candor and liberality that (as the author informs us [1]) Mr.Pitt himſelf reviſed and corrected the pamphlet in queſtion:— "It is material to conſider whence ariſes this general ſafe-guard, which the public poſſeſſes, againſt the malverſation of miniſters againſt the intentional abuſe, or the Ignorant miſapplication, of the powers with which they are intruſted. The popular nature of our government furniſhes a check, of which the operation is conſtant, becauſe it is excited by natural and increaſing cauſes. The opportunity which parliament affords to the young, the buſtling, and the ambitious, of canvaſſing public,
- ↑ Hiſtory of the Proceedings of the Parliament of 1784,publiſhed in 1785. Mackenzie's works, laſt edition, vol, vii. p. 395.
