14 A SPEECH ABOUT UNDERTAKERS. 



enter into these doors what mind themselves will be 

 of, until they hear things argued and debated. Much 

 less can any man make a policy of assurance, what 

 ship shall come safe home into the harbour in these 

 seas. I had heard of undertakings in several kinds. 

 There were undertakers for the plantations of Derry 

 and Colerane in Ireland, the better to command and 

 bridle those parts. There were, not long ago, some 

 undertakers for the north-west passage : and now 

 there are some undertakers for the project of dyed 

 and dressed cloths ; and, in short, every novelty useth 

 to be strengthened and made good by a kind of un 

 dertaking ; but for the ancient parliament of Eng 

 land, which moves in a certain manner and sphere, 

 to be undertaken, it passes my reach to conceive 

 what it should be. Must we be all dyed and dressed, 

 and no pure whites amongst us ? Or must there 

 be a new passage found for the king s business by a 

 point of the compass that was never sailed by before? 

 Or must there be some forts built in this house that 

 may command and contain the rest ? Mr. Speaker, 

 I know but two forts in this house which the king 

 ever hath ; the fort of affection, and the fort of rea 

 son : the one commands the hearts, and the other 

 commands the heads ; and others I know none. I 

 think yEsop was a wise man that described the na 

 ture of the fly that sat upon the spoke of the chariot 

 wheel, and said to herself, &quot; What a dust do I raise ?&quot; 

 So, for my part, I think that all this dust is raised 

 by light rumours and buzzes, and not upon any 

 solid ground. 



