WILLIAM THE THIRD.

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charge of any duty by the fear of great men, but that fear chap.

xxv.

was not the only base and evil passion of which great menwere the objects, and that the flatterer who courted theirfavour was not a worse citizen than the envious calumnia-tor who took pleasure in bringing whatever was eminentdown to his own level. At length, after a debate whichlasted from midday till nine at night, and in which allthe leading members took part, the committee divided onthe question that the letters patent were dishonourable tothe King, inconsistent with the law of nations, contraryto the statutes of the realm, and destructive of propertyand trade. The Chancellor’s enemies had felt confidentof victory, and had made the resolution so strong in orderthat it might be impossible for him to retain the GreatSeal. They soon found that it would have been wise topropose a gentler censure. Great numbers of their ad-herents, convinced by Cowper’s arguments, or unwillingto put a cruel stigma on a man of whose genius and ac-complishments the nation was proud, stole away before thedoors were closed. To the general astonishment therewere only one hundred and thirty three Ayes to one hun-dred and eighty nine Noes. That the City of London didnot consider Somers as the destroyer, and his enemies asthe protectors, of trade, was proved on the followingmorning by the most unequivocal of signs. As soon asthe news of his triumph reached the Royal Exchange, theprice of stocks went up.