But the dignities of the country, the great and powerful, are
represented eminently by your Lordships. As we, therefore, would keep
the lowest of the people from the contagion and dishonor of peculation
and corruption, and above all from exercising that vice which, among
commoners, is unnatural as well as abominable, the vice of tyranny and
oppression, so we trust that your Lordships will clear yourselves and
the higher and more powerful ranks from giving the smallest countenance
to the system which we have done our duty in denouncing and bringing
before you.
My Lords, you have heard the account of the civil service. Think of
their numbers, think of their influence, and the enormous amount of
their salaries, pensions, and emoluments! They were, you have heard, an
intolerable burden on the revenues and authority of the Vizier; and they
exposed us to the envy and resentment of the whole country, by excluding
the native servants and adherents of the prince from the just reward of
their services and attachments. Here, my Lords, is the whole civil
service brought before you. They usurp the country, they destroy the
revenues, they overload the prince, and they exclude all the nobility
and eminent persons of the country from the just reward of their
service.
Pages:
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547