The arguments of the noble duke are such as, in my opinion, cannot be
answered, or heard impartially without conviction. The maxims quoted by
him are each of them incontestably true; they are, on this occasion,
incompatible; and this is the only method by which they can be
reconciled.
Nor has he only shown the propriety of the bill by irrefragable reasons,
but has proved, likewise, that it is consistent, not only with the
constitution of our government, but with the practice of our ancestors;
he has shown, that it may be supported not only by reason, but by bills
of the same kind, enacted on occasions of far less importance.
He has proved, my lords, all that the most scrupulous inquirer can wish;
he has made it evident, that the bill would be proper, though it were
unprecedented; he has produced many precedents in support of it, and has
thereby evinced, that the only present question is, whether it is just?
To the precedents alleged by him, it has been objected, that they differ
in some particulars. But when, my lords, did any two actions, however
common, agree in every circumstance? Relations may be complicated
without end, and every new complication produces new appearances, which,
however, are always to be disregarded, while the constituent principles
remain unvaried.
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