Speech made at the General Quarter-Sessions, held for the county of G---r

A Speech made at the General Qnarter-Sejfions, held for the
County of G-—r.
Gentlemen^
t b ' H E worthy Chairman having finifli’d his Charge to the Grand Jury, give
me leave to difcharge my mind to you in a few Words, which Til do, with
JL as much fincerity, as I have my Duty to my Country,
I thank God, I have been now in P-r- 1 above Ten Years, and hope to fit there
as much longer, unlefs my Conftitution fails, or you change your Minds.
You ^fnmow I zealoully voted for this Government at firft ; you alfo know, jhow I
alter’d my Tone, and for what Reafons : I am now come again into the King’s in-
treft, and will continue fo, as long as his agreeable to mine; tor I can with little Vi¬
olence to Nature ferve any Turn, in which I may be ferviceable to my felf.
I have fpoke much, and been well heard in every P 1, but never with fuch
fuccefs as in this ; which Gentlemen, Obligeth me to tell you, that his one of the bell
p ts that ever fat in And you’ll be of my Opinion, when you confider
what a world of Private Bufinefs we have difpatch’d: We have in lefs than Five months
Expell’d more M rrs, Imprifoned greater Numbers of the Subjects, and lodg’d
more Imp—ts thanjhath been done in Twenty Years before. -— And that, with as
little Partiality as could be expedted from us.
In the Publick Affairs, we have done wonders ; we have fav’d Europe this Year
from a great deal of Confufion and Blood ; had /ta/y been as near to us as Flanders,
we would have kept the Imperialift as quiet as t\\c Dutch.
We Damn’d th^e Partition Treaty, which was dead before; for Death and Damna¬
tion muft fucceed one another: And tho we have accHSrd force that had No part in it,
and others that had ; ’tis juftifiable in Politicks, for in ail Sham Plots,\Wit-
neffes muft be pardon’d tp countenance a Difcovery.
We were inrireiy for 77?? Peace of Europe, but People did not uuderftand it; they
only Confider’d the Letter but not the Spirit of our Vo—s : Submiftion is the way to
Peace, and under an Vniverfal Monarch, there muft be Uniyeral Peace, and to op-
pofe it, will multiply Taxes and Trouble.
The Trade of the Nation and the Woollen Manufacture were Confiderations we
avoided; that we might leave it to France, when our Subjection is perfect, to alliga
us fo much as is neceffary for us: I was my felf a little anxious about our Cloath and
Drapery, till Count —d affur’d me, that in lieu of it,, his Mafter would furnilh us
with able Workmen to train up our Clothies in making Cdrazf and Wooden Shoots,
valuable Commodities, to which France owes the Conqueft of EUrope.
The Count is a Man pf Honor, you may depend on what he fays, and I can allure you, ht’s a very
able Minifter: he carries on his Mailers Intreft with Arguments of thegreateft Weight and Value; he don’t
flightly reprefent things, but touches to the quick, and makes a man feel, his Reifons^as well asunderftand
’em ; I muftconfefs, I have mightily improv’d my felfby hisConverfation.
I muft fay, with deference to the H——s, the Committee of Imp-—ts have moft fignaliz’d themfelves,and
if the Lords had been more tra&able, we had made a Glorious Campaign: I forefaw the Struggle, and
retir’d into the Country ; and’tis well I did, for my Praifes came fo thick upon me, every Poll from
Paris, I inuft in modefty have left the Town.
I am for ry, the Lords, inmyabfence, would nottruft mein the Commiftion of Accounts; ’tis a Poll:
I’d rather choole without a Salary, than any Employment in the Kings Service ; our worthy Sp—-»r
knows the excellency of it, and that a good memory, with a little underftanding, a ftock of Craft w ith
a moderate Sincerity, will carry a man thro it with Honor.
I have been reported. Gentlemen, to be a Perfon cruel and vindictive, which is plainly a Reproach;
I am fo tender-hearted, that I have been for faving the moft guilty: Witnefsthe Cafe of Sir J.
yet’tis my Opinion, that fbmetimes for State Reafons, the innocent may be condemn’d that thofe who
have bee long in Places, may make room for thofe that have been long out.
I have been cenfur’d by moft people for the intemperance of my Tongue, which is from a falfe notion
they have of me: I am not aCfcuated by Paflion but by Naure, and being brimful of the Spleen, I can¬
not fpeak with thatfoft and agreeable Ay re, a Gentleman ought to do; 1 only fcatter the Splinters of a
peevifh Carcafs, which l let fly at random, againft Prince and People, without aim, and without defign.
But let the World think what they pleafe, ’ds too late for my Enemies to THumph over me, for 1 now
enjoy the Satisfaction, that Hero’s in all Ages have contended for; I jfhall live in the Voice of Fame, and be
Jmmotal in two Kingdoms, the Annals of England will always remember me, and the French Hiftorians
can never forget Monjieur Jaccou.