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RISE OF THE CONTINENTALparticularly in the Upper House/ inorder to form a conception of the furious diatribes, full of ebullitions of thecoarsest national pride, and of the grossest insults, against apeople which stand connected with them by so many ties.Time itself has given perhaps too complete a refutation tothose fictions of projects formed for the extension of theelectorate, which, whenever the slightest step was taken, oronly presumed to be taken, for the advantage of Hanover,were again revived.But in order to estimate duly those objections, it is necessary to trace them to their genuine sources. They originated much less in conviction than in party spirit. It wasthe cry of the opposition which succeeded at that time, afterhaving put down Walpole, in gaining over to itself the greatmass of the nation. Where could they more readily findmaterials for their speeches than here, where they neverfailed, as soon as they set out on mere selfish principles?It is not the design of this dissertation to give an account ofthat opposition in detail. Otherwise readers who are notconversant with the history of those times, would beholdwith amazement the degree of blindness and fatuity to whichthe rage of faction can lead.The history of England during the 18th centuryis as richas any other, and perhaps richer, in instances of great virtuesand great achievements ;but there is one aspect in which aman of right feeling cannot contemplateit for the most partwithout abhorrence. It is not the opposition itself, withoutwhich no political liberty can exist; neither is it the ebullition of party spirit, which at certain periods is inseparablefrom it, with which I find fault. Even that disgust whicharises from the reiterated and incessant clamour frequentlyraised on the most trivial occasions about the impendingruin of the state, which never ensued, may be overcome.But it is that melancholy and so often recurring spectacle,of men, themselves of the highest talents and character, who,1In the years 1742 and 1743, during the ministry of Carteret, the dischargeof the Hanoverian corps in the British service is the constant topic of thenval speakers. This corps constituted at that time almost the half of the allied army, and the consequences of their dismissal may easily be calculated1 question whether the whole range of history has produced a similar example ol the mastery of passion over sound reason amongst people who calledthemselves statesmen.