496

by declining health, and in administering to the comforts of him-self and his family, by supplying to him the loss of income whichhis misfortune has occasioned, than by indulging myself in ajourney to London . Notwithstanding this, I feel and adopt thesentiment of Cicero, in preferring the love of my country to everyother connection; and if there Was any probability of my advicebeing attended to in this crisis of our destiny, I would take myseat; but I five years ago publicly declared my opinion on fourmeasures essential, as appeared to me, to our safety as a nation.Had any one of these measures been taken up by any adminis-tration, we should have been in a less perilous situation than wenow are ; had all of them been brought forward, we might havewithstood the united attack of all Europe . We should now havehad an addition to the regular army of 250,000 young men, in-structed in the use of arms ; our debt would have been discharged ;the Catholics in Ireland would have been cordially attached to us ;the Dissenters in England would have had no just cause of com-plaint. It is the part of an honest man, who meddles at all inpublic concerns, openly and fearlessly to deliver his sentiments ;but he becomes a self-sufficient man, if he does not patientlyacquiesce in their being overlooked.”

i;.

Letter to Lord Hawkesbury , December 18. 1808.

“ . My Lord,

“ Though I have for several years lived a retired rather than apublic life, indifferent to the coalitions of parties, rather thanattached to any of them, yet have I never been indifferent to thepublic welfare, or inattentive (as occasion offered) to the means