The fortune of such men was a temptation
too great to be resisted by one to whom a single whiff of incense
withheld gave much greater pain than he received delight in the clouds
of it which daily rose about him from the prodigal superstition of
innumerable admirers. He was a candidate for contradictory honours; and
his great aim was to make those agree in admiration of him who never
agreed in anything else.
WEAKNESS IN GOVERNMENT.
Let us learn from our experience. It is not support that is wanting to
government, but reformation. When ministry rests upon public opinion, it
is not indeed built upon a rock of adamant; it has, however, some
stability. But when it stands upon private humour, its structure is of
stubble, and its foundation is on quicksand. I repeat it again--He that
supports every administration subverts all government. The reason is
this: The whole business in which a court usually takes an interest goes
on at present equally well, in whatever hands, whether high or low, wise
or foolish, scandalous or reputable; there is nothing, therefore, to
hold it firm to any one body of men, or to any one consistent scheme of
politics. Nothing interposes to prevent the full operation of all the
caprices and all the passions of a court upon the servants of the
public. The system of administration is open to continual shocks and
changes, upon the principles of the meanest cabal, and the most
contemptible intrigue.
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