JET. 34.] ASSASSINATION OF PERCEVAL. 19 



ing Bellingham to have been actuated by political 

 motives on one side of the question, might well believe 

 that he was sacrificed to the vehement popular feel- 

 ings, if not in favour of the system under trial, cer- 

 tainly in favour of its principal defender, and indig- 

 nation at his fate. What a serious reflection are such 

 proceedings upon our national character ! The act of 

 an individual, be it ever so outrageous, and whether of 

 sound mind and responsibility or not, affixes no such 

 blot on the character of the country as the deliberate 

 proceeding of its highest tribunal, preventing all jus- 

 tice by yielding to the prevailing passions or feelings 

 of the hour. 



When I refused Castlereagh's request for delay, I 

 went on as before day after day; and the evidence 

 proved the distressed state of trade and manufactures 

 all over the country, clearly connecting it with the 

 system which had professed to be reluctantly adopted 

 " for the protection of our commerce, and for retali- 

 ating on the enemy the evils of his own injustice." 

 I had given notice for the 23d June of a motion to 

 address the Crown for a recall of the Orders in Council ; 

 but our friends deemed it better to proceed a week 

 earlier in consequence of the daily-increasing severity 

 of the distress, and of the risks of American hostility; 

 so I gave my notice for the 16th, and this anticipation 

 was at the time and ever after much complained of, 

 especially by Mr Kose, who maintained it to be 

 irregular. The Speaker, however, would not support 

 him by declaring it against the rules of the House ; 

 and the agitated state of the country rendered every 

 day of consequence. When the 16th came, and I rose 

 to move, the absence of Mr Stephen struck me as very 



